Pompeo visits Brussels as Europe meets on Iran

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Brussels on Monday to discuss the Iran nuclear deal, as Britain issued a stark warning about the risk of conflict erupting "by accident" in the Gulf.

Pompeo is set to meet his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany -- the three European signatories to the 2015 accord that curbed Iran's nuclear ambitions in return for sanctions relief -- on the sidelines of a regular EU foreign ministers' gathering.

Iran last week announced it was suspending some of its commitments under the agreement, a year after US President Donald Trump withdrew from the accord and imposed swingeing sanctions on the Islamic republic -- putting the deal in peril.

Adding a military dimension to the diplomatic tensions, Washington is sending an amphibious assault ship and a Patriot missile battery to the Gulf, having already deployed an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers.

British foreign minister Hunt called for "a period of calm" as he arrived for talks, warning ...