Iran is likely behind attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman early Thursday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said just hours after the Marshall Islands-flagged Front Altair and the Panama-flagged Kokuka Courageous were targeted.
One person was injured in the attacks, and experts are still collecting debris to determine whether projectiles, naval mines or improvised explosive devices were used.
"It is the assessment of the United States government that the Islamic Republic of Iran is responsible for the attacks that occurred in the Gulf of Oman today," Mike Pompeo told reporters without providing explicit evidence.
"This assessment is based on intelligence, the weapons used, the level of expertise needed to execute the operation, recent similar Iranian attacks on shipping, and the fact that no proxy group operating in the area has the resources and proficiency to act with such a high degree of sophistication," Pompeo said.
Pompeo said the assessment was also based on recent incidents in the region that the US also blamed on Iran, including the use of limpet mines to attack four oil tankers off the nearby Emirati port of Fujairah and the bombing of an oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia by Iranian-backed fighters in May.
"Taken as a whole these unprovoked attacks present a clear threat to international peace and security, a blatant assault on the freedom of navigation and an unacceptable campaign of escalating tension by Iran," Pompeo added.
At the United Nations, the United States asked for closed Security Council consultations on the tanker incidents later Thursday.
Earlier on Thursday, a US official told CBS News that it was "highly likely" that Iran was behind the latest attacks.
Thursday's attacks on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman were the second in a month near the Strait of Hormuz, a major strategic waterway for world oil supplies.
The official further said that a US retaliation depended on what emerged from the investigation into the incident following the debris collection and whether it could prove a link to Iran.
