Two oil tankers on Thursday were attacked and left adrift in the Gulf of Oman, driving up oil prices and stoking fears of a new confrontation between Iran and the United States.
The White House said President Donald Trump had been briefed and that the U.S. government would continue to assess the situation.
Washington accused Tehran of being behind a similar attack on May 12 on four tankers in the same area, a vital shipping route through which much of the world’s oil passes.
Tensions between Iran and the U.S., along with its allies including Saudi Arabia, have risen since Washington pulled out of a deal in 2018 between Iran and global powers that aimed to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
Iran has repeatedly warned it would block the Strait of Hormuz, near where the attacks happened, if it cannot sell its oil due to U.S. sanctions. No one has claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attacks and no one has specifically blamed them on any party.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is due to deliver remarks to the media at 1815 GMT, the State Department said without elaborating.
