According to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, “there’s no doubt,” that Iran is behind the recent attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. In a Sunday interview, Pompeo said that “the intelligence community has lots of data, lots of evidence. The world will come to see much of it, but the American people should rest assured we have high confidence with respect to who conducted these attacks as well as half a dozen other attacks throughout the world.”
Saudi Arabia and the UK are also blaming Iran for the attack, but the Iranian regime is denying responsibility. In fact, various Iranian officials are suggesting that the attack was carried out by the US and/or Israel in an attempt to increase pressure on Iran.
Last month, four oil tankers were attacked in the Gulf of Oman, also with naval mines. The United States blamed Iran for that incident as well, but Tehran denied responsibility. Tensions in the Middle East have increased in recent months, especially after the US increased sanctions on Iran. The Trump administration has repeatedly warned of a growing Iranian threat, while Iran has slammed US sanctions as a form of economic war. Iran recently began scaling back its commitments under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which was abandoned by the US last year.
Read more: Pompeo Says ‘There’s No Doubt’ Iran Attacked 2 Tankers
