The U.S President Donald Trump’s spokesperson on Iran has claimed that most of the alleged Tehran-tied threats anticipated by the administration never happened. But, the Islamic Republic was still capable of carrying them out. Testifying before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Middle East, North Africa and terrorism subcommittee on Wednesday, U.S special representative for Iran Brian Hook cited credible threat reporting in late April and early May that Iran was plotting imminent attacks against American interests in multiple threats. He said this “threat stream” justified a heightened military U.S military presence in the region. Hook argued, “We were concerned about at the time has not come to pass in the time being. What we have seen so far have not been not on the scale we have expected but that does not mean Iran is not capable of doing those things”.
The testimony of Hook came after the United States officially blamed Iran for recent attacks against 2-oil tankers, in which one was Japanese and one Norwegian-owned. The attacks took place in the Gulf of Oman near the world’s most important oil choke-point, the Strait of Hormuz. Moreover, the Pentagon has produced what it claimed to be evidence of involvement by Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards. Tehran has strongly denied this and even Washington’s allies have expressed skepticism. Trump administration has linked Iran to other regional incidents at the same time, such as repeated rocket attacks that have struck Iraqi bases where U.S military personnel were known to operate. The Pentagon also announced on Monday that it would send 1,000 more troops to the Middle East. The figure was reportedly in addition to 1,500 troops already deployed there in response what administration has claimed were threats from Iran. The Trump administration has blamed Iran of lashing out in response to a U.S maximum pressure campaign that Hook argued.