Four ships, including two Saudi oil tankers, were damaged in mysterious "sabotage attacks" that have inflamed Gulf tensions amid a standoff between the United States and Iran.
In the face of growing international concern, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo scrapped a planned visit to Moscow and headed to Brussels instead for talks Monday with European officials, as Britain warned of the danger of conflict erupting "by accident" in the Gulf.
Turning up the pressure on Tehran after the United States deployed B-52 bombers and an assault ship to bolster an aircraft carrier in the region, President Donald Trump warned that Iran would "suffer greatly" were it to "do anything" to threaten US interests.
"If they do anything, it would be a very bad mistake," Trump warned at the White House. "If they do anything they will suffer greatly."
Asked whether the United States believed Iran played a role, Brian Hook, the US special envoy for Iran, declined to comment, saying only that US authorities would be assisting the investigation at the request of the UAE which has called the incidents "deliberate sabotage."
Describing Pompeo's talks with his European counterparts, Hook said they had discussed "what seemed to be attacks on commercial vessels."
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