to the United Nations responded to the U.S. accusation by saying that the Iranian government "categorically rejects" the U.S. claim that it was responsible for the attacks and condemned it "in the strongest possible terms". United States U.S. officials have blamed the attacks on Iran, with United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stating that the U.S. "would defend its forces and interests in the region". Saudi Arabia's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir agreed with Pompeo, saying "Iran has a history of doing this." During an interview with Fox News, Trump further asserted the blame on Iran, calling the country "a nation of terror". Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders called for the incident to be "fully investigated" while adding that a war with Iran "would be an unmitigated disaster for the United States, Iran, the region and the world.” Fellow senator and presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren echoed Sanders saying she was “very concerned about a slide towards war with Iran”. On 17 June, Maariv reported that diplomatic sources at the United Nations Headquarters revealed to the newspaper an American plan to carry out a tactical assault against Iran – namely, aerial bombardment of an Iranian facility related to its nuclear program. That evening, the U.S. Department of Defense announced the deployment of 1,000 additional troops to the Middle East as a defensive response to the incident. United Kingdom The United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office stated that they share the U.S. government's assessment that Iran is to blame for two attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, with British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt calling Iran's alleged actions "deeply unwise". The office released another statement that "It is almost certain that a branch of the Iranian military – the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – attacked the two tankers on 13 June. No other state or non-state actor could plausibly have been responsible." Hunt said "our starting point is obviously to believe our U.S. allies" and the UK "will be making our own assessment soberly and carefully". He accused Iran of orchestrating the May 2019 Gulf of Oman incident, stating "The Emirati-led investigation of the 12 May attack on four oil tankers near the port of Fujairah concluded that it was conducted by a sophisticated state actor. We are confident that Iran bears responsibility for that attack." The position on the June incident was challenged on