The UN Security Council is expected to vote Tuesday on a watered-down resolution calling for the unblocking of the Strait of Hormuz -- far from the sponsoring Gulf countries' initial goal of obtaining clearance to free it by force.

The vote is expected at 11:00 am (1500 GMT), though the outcome is not certain. The text in question has been diluted in recent days in the hope of avoiding rejection.

A draft seen by AFP on Monday no longer mentions authorization to use force -- even defensively.

DUBAI/WASHINGTON, April 7 (Reuters) - Iran and Israel traded attacks on Tuesday as Tehran defiantly refused to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and accept a ceasefire deal on the eve of a deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump to agree to his demands or get "taken out."

Iran has rejected a U.S. proposal brokered by Pakistan for an immediate ceasefire and the lifting of its effective blockade of the strait, followed by talks on a broader peace settlement within 15 to 20 days, according to a source aware of the plan.

Iran has freed a Japanese national held since January, Tokyo said Tuesday, with Kyodo News reporting however that the individual is not allowed to leave the Islamic republic.

The Japanese news agency also reported, citing unnamed sources within the government in Tokyo, that the person is believed to be the Tehran bureau chief of broadcaster NHK.

"The Japanese embassy in Iran has confirmed that a Japanese national who was detained by Iranian authorities on January 20 was released on April 6 local time," government spokesman Minoru Kihara said.

By Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump was on the verge of a crisis in the Iran war,faced with the rare instance of an American airman shot down and stranded deep inside enemy territory.

Then, the airman's daring Easter weekend rescue gave the U.S. president the chance to quickly flip the script.

By David Brunnstrom and John Irish

April 6 (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council is expected to vote on Tuesday on a resolution to protect commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, but in significantly watered-down form after veto-wielding China opposed authorizing force, diplomats said.

Oil prices have surged since the U.S. and Israel struck Iran at the end of February, unleashing a conflict that has run for more than five weeks and seen Tehran largely close the Strait, a vital energy artery.

US forces carried out a high-risk mission to recover the pilot and weapon systems officer of an F-15 fighter jet -- the first crewed American warplane shot down over Iran in more than five weeks of combat.

President Donald Trump said last week that US-Israeli operations had left Iran with "no anti-aircraft equipment" or radars, but the Islamic republic's forces subsequently shot down the F-15 and heavily damaged another plane during the rescue mission.

President Donald Trump lashed out Monday at NATO allies who did not support the United States in the war in Iran and reiterated his desire to annex Greenland.

Trump's remarks came ahead of a visit by the defense alliance's chief Mark Rutte scheduled for later this week.

"Look, we went to NATO," Trump recalled. "I didn't ask very strongly, I just said, 'Hey, if you want to help, great.'"

"'No, no, no we will not help,'" Trump said he was told, while not saying who he spoke to.

Trump went on to say that NATO members had "actually gone out of their way not to help."

By Nandita Bose and Gram Slattery

WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he would demand that the journalist who first reported that an airman in Iran had been rescued reveal how they got that information, and threatened to jail themif they refused.

WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday told reporters that he thought the Iranian people should rise up against the government in the country if a ceasefire were declared, but understood that it was too dangerous for them to do so.

"Well they should do it but, again, the consequences are great," Trump said during a White House news conference. "I mean, they were told, 'If you protest, you will be shot immediately.'"

By Nandita Bose and Steve Holland

WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday told reporters that Iran could be taken out in one night, "and that night might be tomorrow night," warning Tehran it had to make a deal by Tuesday night or face wider bombing raids.

Trump had earlier vowed to enforce a Tuesday night deadline for Iran to agree to a ceasefire deal or face broad attacks on power plants and other critical infrastructure. Trump is demanding Iran forswear nuclear weapons and reopen the Strait of Hormuz oil transit waterway.