Iran to blame in ship attacks

U.S. says ‘unmistakable’ evidence to be released

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday that more evidence will be released soon to prove the administration’s assertion that Iran was responsible for attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman last week.

Despite some skepticism from U.S. allies and Democrats, Pompeo said on “Fox News Sunday” that U.S. intelligence provided “unmistakable” evidence of Iranian culpability. He said “the world will come to see” much of the intelligence and data that led the administration to that conclusion.

“The American people should rest assured, we have high confidence with respect to who conducted these attacks, as well as half dozen other attacks throughout the world over the past 40 days,” he said.

But questions have swirled in recent days around the evidence and the interpretation of it, in part because allies and some members of Congress question the administration’s credibility.

Some are skeptical

Though Pompeo called the evidence “unmistakable,” many countries are asking for more proof.

The owner of the Japanese tanker has said the crew believes the vessel was hit by a flying object, not a mine, as the United States has asserted. And Sunday, Japan’s Kyodo News Agency said “a source close to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe” told the agency that Pompeo’s evidence did not amount to “definite proof” that Iran carried out the attack.

Germany’s foreign minister has also questioned the utility of a video released by the Pentagon purporting to show Iranians in a small patrol boat removing an unexploded mine from one of the tankers, saying it is insufficient as evidence.

Pompeo brushed the skepticism aside.

“We don’t just purport,” he said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” “That’s what that video is. This was taken from an American camera. … The world needs to unite against this

threat from this Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Pompeo also defended his statement last week that Iran was behind a May 31 car bomb in Kabul as a U.S. military convoy was passing by, injuring four U.S. service members slightly and killing several Afghan civilians. Pompeo characterized the Taliban claim of responsibility as not credible.

“We have confidence that Iran instigated this attack,” he said. “I can’t share any more of the intelligence. But I wouldn’t have said it if the intelligence community hadn’t become convinced that this was the case.”

The rising tensions are feeding fears of a wider conflict.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned of the dangers of stumbling into war.

“We have absolutely no appetite for going to war, or to be provocative to create situations that might evoke responses, where mistakes could be made,” she said on CNN.

But Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and one of the administration’s sharpest critics, called the U.S. evidence “strong and compelling,” saying on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that there’s “no question that Iran’s behind the attacks . ...

“I think this is a Class A screw-up by Iran,” Schiff said. “… I can imagine there’re some Iranian heads rolling from that botched operation.”

Pompeo bristled at the suggestion a credibility gap might make it more difficult to “sell” Americans into supporting a military confrontation.

“We’re not selling anything,” he said on “Face the Nation.” “These are simple facts. I’ve had many conversations over the past, frankly weeks, talking about Iran’s activity. No one doubts the data set.”