The envoy said the situation became particularly difficult when tensions escalated on February 28 as Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in a joint US and Israeli air strikes.

Officials from President Donald Trump’s administration estimated during a congressional briefing this week that the first six days of the war on Iran had cost the US at least $11.3 billion, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The UN Security Council on Wednesday passed a resolution calling for Iran to immediately halt its attacks on Gulf states, saying they breach international law and pose a “serious threat to international peace and security.”