The Pentagon announced Friday it was bolstering US forces in Saudi Arabia after Riyadh asked for reinforcements following the September 14 drone-and-missile attack on Saudi oil plants which Washington blames on Iran. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that two fighter squadrons and additional missile defense batteries were being sent to Saudi Arabia, for a total of about 3,000 new troops from September this year.

The move comes as tensions jumped Friday after Tehran said that suspected missiles had struck an Iranian tanker in the Red Sea off the coast of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Tehran did not blame arch-rival Riyadh for the attack, and US defense officials said they were still looking into it and had no immediate explanation. Esper said he had spoken with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman Friday to discuss adding US firepower to the oil giant's defenses against Iranian attacks.

"It is clear that the Iranians are responsible for the recent attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities," he said. "Despite Iran's attempts to deny their involvement, the evidence recovered so far proves that Tehran is responsible for these attacks."

The September 14 attack knocked out two major processing facilities of state oil giant Aramco in Khurais and Abqaiq, roughly halving Saudi Arabia's oil production.

Washington condemned the attacks as a "act of war" but neither the Saudis nor the United States have undertaken overt retaliation.

But the incident added to tensions already soaring since early this year when Iran was accused of attaching mines to several tankers moored off Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and then attacking or seizing others near the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

Esper said that since May the United States has increased its 70,000-strong presence in the Middle East by 14,000 personnel, most of those deployed to the Gulf region in response to Iran's actions.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019