A senior U.S. defence official stated that "recent actions by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to include attacks against foreign tankers in Fujairah and the attempted covert deployment of modified dhows capable of launching cruise missiles, are all part of a dangerous and escalatory strategy by Iran to threaten global trade and to destabilise the region. Even more troubling, we have had multiple credible reports that Iranian proxy groups intend to attack U.S. personnel in the Middle East". He subsequently elaborated regarding "a campaign designed by the Iranians against U.S. interests, U.S. forces and our partners in the region. And so those threat streams range from the Bab al-Mandab in Yemen, all the way to the Strait of Hormuz and up into Iraq". "We have seen this manifested in the attacks... against the foreign shops in Fujairah and attacks that have manifested in Saudi Arabia against their pipelines and their pumping facilities and most recently, a rocket attack in the vicinity of the [Baghdad] Green Zone", he added, additionally indicating that "we continue to see those threat streams as very active" and judging with "a high degree of confidence" that the incidents "stem back to the leadership of Iran at the highest levels".