DONALD Trump may be forced to launch military strikes against Iranian targets after two oil tankers were attacked in the Gulf region yesterday, an expert has said.
Washington has accused the Islamic Republic of being behind the “blatant” attacks which left two ships on fire near the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran strongly denies the “unfounded and reckless” claims accusing the US instead of spreading “disinformation”.
The explosions, which are believed to have been caused by magnetic mines, are the latest escalation in tensions between the two countries.
Iran is alleged to have used similar weaponry to attack four oil tankers off the nearby Emirati port of Fujairah last month.
And with Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels bombing a Saudi airport on June 12 – some military experts believe President Trump may be forced to take action.
Jim Hanson, head of the Security Studies Group think tank, believes that the strict economic sanctions imposed by Washington are no longer enough.
He believes Trump should consider targeting Tehran’s proxies in the region, reports Fox News.
Mr Hanson said: “It seems that the Iranian regime either feels the US will not take military action, or wants to see how far it can go before provoking an American response.”
Later he added: “At this point, it is more dangerous for America to fail to respond to Iran.
“Passivity would signal Iran’s rulers that they are not constrained from shutting down the two main sea lanes for shipping Middle East oil.”
Mr Hanson’s think tank has advised the White House on matters concerning the troubled region.
He says that a “senior government official advised me that the identification of Iran as the culprit ‘was just the first step and there would be more to follow.’”
Detailing the ways in which Trump could respond, he said: “Some potential ways to send a message the Iranians will understand could include a US cruise missile strike on an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps naval base that houses some of the fast attack boats Iran uses to harass and attack foreign ships.
“It would also be a good idea for the US to conduct a joint strike with Saudi Arabia on a Houthi rebel base in Yemen.
“This would serve a dual purpose.
“First, a joint strike would back up our warning that we would not differentiate between attacks by Iran and its proxies. Iran is responsible for both.
“Second, such a strike would support the Saudi and UAE fight against Iranian efforts to cement a foothold in Yemen that menaces much of the world’s oil flow.
Last month, a former US spy chief revealed hidden targets the Trump administration could use to eradicate the Iranian threat without putting “boots on the ground”.
Michael Pregent, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, published a map showing options on how to confront Iran’s regime and its allies in the Middle East.
Pregent said he “made this [map] to counter the narratives of ‘war with Iran'”.
He added: “I wanted to show where and how Iran could hit the US and allies and what a measured response would be.”
Iran has allies Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip – but it also has a number of missiles aimed at Israel.
Pregent’s map hopes to pose a solution.
It shows a variety of pressure points where Iranian forces are present.
Iran is spread out over an area from the Bab el-Mandeb straits to Syria and Lebanon.
Starting in Yemen, US allies, such as the Saudis and Emiratis could strike at the Houthis.
The US or allies could also strike at the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the area.
Pregent points out that the US’s current campaign of pressure on Iran seems to be working, leaving the country with difficulty funding operations in Syria and funding Hezbollah.
He added: “The US is well positioned to respond to an effective attack in multiple areas. I would argue that any response should have a proxy target and an IRGC one as well, hit both simultaneously.”
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