The United States conveyed a message to Iran warning of a limited strike against the country the day after its unmanned drone was shot down in the Gulf, Iran's civil defense agency chief Gholamreza Jalali was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency on Sunday.
"After the downing of its intruding drone, the United States told us through diplomatic intermediaries that it wanted to carry out a limited operation," said Jalali who is also a senior commander in Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard.
"But Iran's response was that we regard every operation as the beginning of the war."
A day after the drone was downed in the Gulf, Iranian officials told Reuters on June 21 that Tehran had received a message from U.S. President Donald Trump through Oman warning that a U.S. attack on Iran was imminent. Iranian and U.S. officials denied the report.