United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged on Friday the United States and Iran is to avoid anything that would escalate the current tense situation and "to have nerves of steel." “The secretary-general firmly believes in the need for dialogue between the parties involved as probably the best way to defuse tension and to avoid any escalation,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters at UN headquarters. He said the UN has been in contact with the parties at various levels and is passing the same message in public and it is in private, "which is to avoid any escalation." Dujarric announced that Guterres will be attending the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, next week but said he did not know yet if the secretary-general would meet there with US President Donald Trump. Tensions have escalated dramatically since Iran downed a large US drone which it said violated its airspace. The US said the unmanned drone was in international airspace. The United States launched a retaliatory strike Thursday night which President Donald Trump said he canceled 10 minutes before it was to take place because he learned there could be 150 deaths. The United States has also blamed Iran for using mines in the latest attacks on tankers in the Gulf. Diplomats said the United States has asked for a closed Security Council meeting on Monday on the latest escalation and tanker incidents. Two well-informed diplomats confirmed the US request on Friday and said the closed consultations are likely to take place on Monday afternoon, reported The Associated Press. Meanwhile, European Council President Donald Tusk denied that the EU has been too passive in its response to rising tensions between the US and Iran. After chairing a summit of EU leaders in Brussels Friday, Tusk said that "sometimes its better not to intervene. The biggest problems in our history (were) always provoked by too active politics, not too passive." He added that the leaders "follow the situation closely and are very concerned about the developments in the Gulf region." But he remarked there was "no reason to prepare a specific European statement on this" at the summit. The EU is urging restraint on both sides and the blocs top diplomat is in regular contact with the two. The EU is struggling to uphold the Iran nuclear deal, which is at risk of collapse due to US sanctions. German Chancellor Angel Merkel said European countries are still hoping that there can be a political solution to the tensions. Merkel told reporters in Brussels that European governments foreign policy advisers had met on the sidelines of a European Council meeting to discuss the tensions in the region. She said "naturally we are worried about the situation and were counting on diplomatic negotiations for a political solution to a very tense situation."