US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has cancelled a visit to Greenland to return to Washington amid an escalation of tensions with Iran.

Pompeo had been due to wrap up a trip to Europe on Thursday with a stop in Greenland aimed at promoting the Trump administration's Arctic policies.

Those policies were criticised earlier this week for not containing the words “climate change” when Pompeo attended an Arctic Council meeting in Finland.

The State Department says that Pompeo will still order a restoration of a permanent US diplomatic presence in Greenland.

The Greenland stop was the second Pompeo cancelled on what was supposed to be a four-nation tour of Europe. On Tuesday, he abruptly dropped a trip to Germany to fly to Baghdad for meetings with Iraqi leaders.