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U.S., Persian Gulf Allies Step Up Pressure On Iran

(Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty/Washington Post) The United States and key Middle East allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates stepped up pressure on Iran, warning against any attacks and taking measures to bolster cooperation to counter Tehran's regional activities. U.S. national-security adviser John Bolton warned Iran that any attacks on U.S. interests or allies in the Persian Gulf will draw a "very strong response" from Washington following a series of violent incidents and a beefing up of U.S. military assets in the region. Bolton, speaking to reporters in Abu Dhabi, the U.A.E. capital, said Iran was "almost certainly" behind attacks on oil tankers off the coast of the U.A.E. earlier this month. "I think it is clear these [attacks] were naval mines almost certainly from Iran," Bolton asserted. "Who else would you think is doing it?" he said of the mines. "Somebody from Nepal? There is no doubt in anybody's mind in Washington who is responsible for this, and I think it's important that the leadership in Iran know that we know." "The point is to make it very clear to Iran and its surrogates that these kinds of action risk a very strong response from the United States," Bolton said, without elaborating.
2019-05-30 00:00:00
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