we do have breaking news on the standoff with iran. an iranian commander has just been on state tv there, appearing to make a threat towards the u.s. fred fl fred pleitgen is in tehran. what can you tell us was said here and the meaning behind it. >> reporter: hi, christi. this is a senior iranian general and this is a quote he gave to iranian television. he said the u.s. should act responsibly to protect the lives of american forces operating in the region. obviously what he's saying here is if there was some sort of military escalation between the united states and iran, it would affect u.s. forces in the entire region. one of the things the iranians have been saying, if there was a strike if there was a strike by president trump, by administration on iran in retaliation for the downing of that drone that the iranians would have dealt the u.s., as they put it, a crushing response, they would have responded forcefully to that. one of the things the iranians