Top Democrat Pelosi: U.S. has no appetite to go to war with Iran

Reuters
Updated
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi holds weekly news conference with Capitol Hill reporters in Washington

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday the United States has no appetite to go to war with Iran, after Tehran shot down a U.S. military surveillance drone in the Gulf region.

Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress, told reporters that 20 lawmakers will receive a briefing to learn more about the incident.

"I think it's a dangerous situation," Pelosi said. "We have to be strong and strategic about how we protect our interests. We also cannot be reckless in what we do, so it will be interesting to see what they have to say.

"I don't think the president wants to go to war. There's no appetite for going to war in our country."

Iran on Thursday shot down a U.S. military drone it said was on a spy mission over its territory but Washington said the aircraft was targeted in international air space in "an unprovoked attack."

Pelosi said tensions were high in the region and worried that "a miscalculation on either side could provoke something very bad."

(The story refiled to fix spelling of 'interesting' in paragraph three.)

(Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by David Alexander and Alistair Bell)