The Iranian regime has mellowed down this time and said it wants talk to the US -- instead of engaging in a full-scale shooting war.
On live television Thursday, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said the Islamic Republic is exerting all efforts "daily" to avert war after Washington and Tehran appeared on the verge of a direct military confrontation early this month.
Just weeks prior to its parliamentary elections - seen by political analysts as a crucial test for Rouhani's administration - and in the midst of deepening animosities between Iran and the US over the former's nuclear activities, Rouhani expressed his hope for a "possible" dialogue with the West.
The Middle East seemed on the verge of a new war in the early days of January after US President Donald Trump gave the green light to assassinate Iran's second most powerful man, Qasem Soleimani, in a drone strike in Iraq's Baghdad airport, which prompted Tehran to respond using a barrage of rockets against American military assets in Iraq days later.
Iran's missile attack, which it described as "self defense" and "compensation for Soleimani's killing," did not cause any casualties on the American or Iraqi side, except material damage, based on reports.
The exchange of threats between Washington and Tehran seemed to have eased in the aftermath of the shoot down of a Ukrainian commercial plane moments after Iran's missile attack as the country was on red alert for a US reprisal. One hundred and 76 people, mostly Canadians and Iranians, perished on the crash.
On Thursday, Canadian Foreign Minister Francois Philippe Champagne vowed to pressure Tehran for answers following the tragedy. Families and the international community, he said, "want an answer... and we will not rest until we get them."
The tensions between the US and Iran has escalated since Trump backed out of the historic nuclear deal in 2018 and implemented a new round of crippling economic sanctions against Iran.
Across the country, public fury and anti-government protests erupted every day after the Ukrainian aircraft disaster. Iranian authorities and anti-riot police have been mobilized in response to the demonstrations.
Rouhani has acknowledged a crisis of trust in the government, but called for "national unity" and greater pluralism with the international community.
The Iranian president has also come to the defense of his country's pursuit of transparency with the West that he has hoped for since he was elected to power in 2013, and which the Islamic Republic's ultra-conservative politicians oppose.
