Iran threatens 'crushing response' to US drones as Pompeo arrives in region

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday for talks with the kingdom's leaders ahead of a planned announcement of new economic sanctions targeting Iran.

Pompeo will meet with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss "ways to counter the malign Iranian influence in the region," the State Department said in a statement.

Pompeo also will visit the United Arab Emirates in a bid to consolidate allies in the region en route to strengthening a global coalition against what the U.S. sees as Iranian aggression.

The sanctions ordered by President Donald Trump are in response to Iran shooting down a $100 million U.S. drone last week. The U.S. claims the drone was flying over international waters while Iran says it was over its territory.

On Monday, a defiant Iranian admiral said his military stands ready to shoot down more drones.

“The enemy dispatched its most sophisticated, smartest and most complicated surveillance aircraft to the banned area, and everyone saw the shooting down of the unmanned aerial vehicle," Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi said. "We confidently say that this crushing response can be repeated ... and the enemy is aware of this."

Also Monday, Iranian Minister of Communication and Information Technology Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi denied reports in the U.S. media that the U.S. carried out a successful, retaliatory cyberattack that disabled Revolutionary Guard systems that control rocket and missile launches.

Jahromi tweeted that the West has attempted millions of cyberattacks against Iran's military, but that none have been successful.

Trump said he canceled a retaliatory military strike minutes before it was to take place when military leaders told him about the potential for 150 Iranian deaths. Trump, however, secretly authorized U.S. Cyber Command to carry out the cyberattack, several officials told The Associated Press. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the operation.