Even with US forces poised to strike Iran, the country’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told CNN in an exclusive interview on Sunday that he was “confident that we can achieve a deal” with the United States on Tehran’s nuclear weapons program.

US President Donald Trump has signalled a tentative opening for diplomacy with Iran, even as Washington sharpens its military posture in the Middle East.

Trump said that if Iran does not make a deal regarding its nuclear program, "we'll find out” whether Iran’s supreme leader was correct to predict that a U.S. attack on the country would spark a regional war.

Iran’s supreme leader has warned the United States that if “they start a war, this time it will be a regional war”.

Iran is expected to begin a two-day, live-fire naval exercise on Sunday in the Strait of Hormuz - one of the world's most important shipping routes and a key route for energy supplies.

One day before a planned naval drill by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, an explosion tore through an apartment building Saturday in the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, which sits on the strait.

The United States has approved the potential sale of Patriot air defense missiles to Saudi Arabia, valued at approximately USD 9 billion.

Bandar Abbas, home to Iran's most important container port, lies on the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway between Iran and Oman which handles about a fifth of the world's seaborne oil.