U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has revealed it's "quite possible" Iran was responsible for recent security incidents in the Middle East as he prepared to brief Congress on the rising tensions.
Pompeo cautioned that the U.S. has not made "a definitive conclusion" that Iran was behind the sabotage incidents of oil tankers off the United Arab Emirates or drone strikes on a crude pipeline in Saudi Arabia.
He added the U.S. will continue to take actions that protect American interests and deter Iran from misbehavior in the region.
U.S. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told reporters at the Pentagon on Tuesday that the U.S. military weaponry deployment was to put on hold potential attacks on Americans in the region, and was not aimed at going to war with Iran.