The United States envoy on Iran, Brian Hook, condemned on Friday Iran’s escalatory actions in the region, saying it was “important we do everything” to ease the tensions. “Our diplomacy does not give Iran the right to respond with military force, Iran needs to meet our diplomacy with diplomacy and not military force,” he told a news conference in the Saudi capital Riyadh. “It’s important we do everything we can to de-escalate.” He said that Washington’s pressure campaign on Tehran was yielding results, adding that US sanctions have deprived the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps of funds it was using to carry out attacks. Moreover, Hook stressed that Iran’s use of proxies to attack Saudi Arabia must be confronted. It is important to prevent Iran from acquiring a foothold in Yemen to keep it from threatening the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, he continued, warning of a greater conflict in the region if Tehran’s plans in the war-torn country are not thwarted. The envoy made his remarks as day after an Iranian surface-to-air missile brought down an RQ-4A Global Hawk an unmanned aircraft. The shootdown has further escalated tensions between Iran the US as Tehrans nuclear deal with world powers unravels.