The leader of a ministry that supports Christians in Iran is asking Christians around the world to pray for peace between that country and the USA as tensions rise. 

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard says that it shot down a USA drone over Iranian airspace on Thursday. However, the USA's government claims the drone was over international airspace. President Donald Trump called it a "big mistake" Thursday. That came just a week after the USA alleged Iran was responsible for an attack on an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman.

Media in the United States disclosed on Friday that the USA was within minutes of a retaliatory missile strike on military installations. President Trump says on Twitter that he called off the strike with just 10 minutes to spare. He says casualties would have been too high when compared to an unmanned drone.

Reverend Lazarus Yeghnazar, President of 222 Ministries - a charity that supports Christians in Iran - told Premier he was concerned the situation will continue to escalate.

"Trump is as stubborn and as determined to pursue his own ambitions as the Iranian's Ayatollah, so they have met each other's match," Yeghnazar says.

"If a war happens it will be so catastrophic, it will bring destruction to Iran and all around countries - I think we're descending towards that, so can we pray for peace."

Yeghnazar says that only the presence of God can bring peace to the situation. "When the governance of God comes and the authority of God comes, there is healing, there is peace."