US Focused On Building International Consensus After Mideast Attacks - Shanahan

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th June, 2019) The United States is focused on building international consensus after a series of attacks that have occurred in the middle East, US Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan told reporters on Friday.

On Thursday, two oil tankers were hit by explosions in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz. The Trump administration immediately blamed Iran for the attacks and deployed a destroyer to the region. Tehran has strongly refuted Washington's accusations.

"We have an international situation there in the Middle East...The focus for myself and Ambassador [John] Bolton and Secretary [Mike] Pompeo is to build international consensus to this international problem," Shanahan said.

Shanahan added that part of building the international consensus includes sharing intelligence and providing US Central Command with the resources and support they need to conduct their missions.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has blamed Iran for several security incidents that have taken place over the past month including attacks in the Gulf of Oman, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Afghanistan

Iran has denied any involvement in all of the recent attacks, and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Jawad Zarif called the timing of the latest incident "beyond suspicious" because it coincided with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the Islamic Republic. In a tweet on Thursday, Zarif accused White House, Israeli, Saudi, UAE, and Japanese officials of engaging in sabotage diplomacy.