Secretary of State Mike Pompeo canceled a Thursday visit to Greenland to return to Washington amid heightened tensions with Iran.

Pompeo had been due to wrap up a four-nation tour in Europe with a stop in Greenland to promote the Trump administration’s Arctic policies. The policies were criticized this week for not containing the words “climate change” when Pompeo attended an Arctic Council meeting in Finland.

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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, walks to board a plane before departing from London Stansted Airport, north of London, Thursday, May 9, 2019. (Associated Press)

Tensions with Iran came to a head Sunday when the White House announced it was sending an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf amid threats from Tehran. On Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced his country would drop out of the Obama-era nuclear deal unless European signatories agreed to negotiate new terms.

The announcement came exactly one year after President Trump withdrew the United States from the Obama-era deal. Trump reimposed sanctions on Iran after the withdrawal.

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Rouhani gave Europe a 60-day deadline to either follow Trump’s lead or begin easing restrictions on banking and oil trade with the Iranian government.

Pompeo previously canceled a trip to Germany on Tuesday to instead fly to Baghdad for meeting with Iraqi leaders.