FP:
All options on the table. The United States is weighing its next steps in what appears to be turning into a shadow war with Iran. As part of an effort to rally foreign leaders, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday that the Trump administration is considering “a full range of options” after blaming Tehran for the latest attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman last week.
Hours later, Iran confirmed that it will abandon key parts of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, which the United States withdrew from last year, unless Europe helps it circumvent punishing U.S. sanctions. But European diplomats are finding it extremely difficult to find an alternative to U.S. financial dominance, Keith Johnson reports.
At the Pentagon, officials are reportedly weighing a proposal from U.S. Central Command to send as many as 6,000 additional forces to the region, including two fighter squadrons, U.S. Navy destroyers and submarines, as well as several Patriot missile defense batteries. New details about Thursday’s attacks emerged over the weekend, with media outlets reporting that Iranians fired on an American MQ-9 Reaper drone as the unmanned surveillance aircraft flew over the scene.
