Testifying before a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee, Brian Hook, the special envoy on Iran and head of Iran Action Group at the Department of State, claimed that Iran was without a doubt behind the attacks on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman: “Those who have seen the intelligence all come away without any question Iran is behind these attacks.”

Hook also talked about the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen who have repeatedly attacked Saudi Arabian facilities with Iranian rockets.

According to Hook’s testimony:

• Iranian boats were operating in the Strait of Hormuz on June 12 and 13 and approached the vessels which later sustained damage.
• An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) official confirmed that the organization had “completed two actions”.
• The United States supported the right of countries like Saudi Arabia who are on the front lines of Iranian aggression in their right to defend themselves when attacked, especially by the Houthi rebels.
• Iran has spent hundreds of millions of dollars organizing, training and equipping the Houthis to fight at a level beyond which makes any normal sense and it has prolonged and intensified the conflict.
• Iran is playing a very long game in Yemen They would very much like to do in Yemen what they have been able to do in Lebanon and to use the Houthis in the same model that they have used Hezbollah in Lebanon.
• Iran was trying to sow military roots in Syria and is attempting to destabilize Lebanon through its support for Hezbollah.