Secretary of State Pompeo reaffirmed his assessment that the 13 June tanker explosions in the Gulf of Oman "were attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran on commercial shipping, on freedom of navigation, with the clear intent to deny transit through the strait... we have high confidence with respect to who conducted these attacks as well as half a dozen other attacks throughout the world over the past 40 days". "President Trump has done everything he can to avoid war", Pompeo added. "We don't want war. We've done what we can to deter this. The Iranians should understand very clearly that we will continue to take actions that deter Iran from engaging in this kind of behaviour". He also indicated that "Iran will not get a nuclear weapon. That's the goal. That's the objective of our entire campaign with respect to Iran, and to create stability throughout the Middle East as part of that effort". In a separate interview, Pompeo, asked if there was "legal authorisation for a strike on Iran", replied: "We always have the authorisation to defend American interests. Remember, they now have attacked U.S. aircraft". He also contended that "if we relieve sanctions, their nuclear program presents an even greater risk to the U.S."