The US earlier claimed that the Islamic Republic was behind the attack against ships operated by Japan and Norway in the Gulf of Oman on 13 June and has even released video “evidence”. While Tehran vehemently denies any involvement, the Japanese government reportedly considers Washington's allegations unconvincing.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned that the US will continue to pressure Iran, reiterating his claims that the Islamic Republic carried out the attacks against two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman “with a clear intent to deny transit through the strait”. In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, the US top diplomat insisted that “the intelligence community has lots of data, lots of evidence” and promised that “the world will come to see much of it”.
“We don't want war. We've done what we can to deter this. The Iranians should understand very clearly that we will continue to take actions that deter Iran from engaging in this kind of behaviour”, he said.
In a separate interview on CBS' “Face the Nation”, the top US diplomat said that Washington “is considering a full range of options” when it comes to Iran.
“We have briefed the president a couple of times. We'll continue to keep him updated. We are confident that we can take a set of actions that can restore deterrence which is our mission set”, Pompeo said, specifying that military action against Iran was “of course” under consideration following a question on the matter.
The interviews…
