President Donald Trump is "playing it right" on Iran after the weekend attack on two major Saudi oil refineries, Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, said Wednesday, though the assault "does deserve a response."
"He doesn't want to escalate this," McCaul, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, told Fox News. "The president has no appetite to start a war in the Middle East.
"We aren't going to bubble into a war," he added. "We are going to do this very thoughtfully."
President Trump on Wednesday ordered Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to "substantially increase sanctions" imposed on Iran, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the Saturday attack "an act of war" against the world's top oil exporter.
Pompeo was in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday working to build a coalition of European and Arab partners to deter Tehran in light of the assault.
"The Pentagon is doing an assessment," McCaul told Fox News' Harris Faulkner. "We are going to make the case to the United Nations and the world court of opinion on this.
"But I do believe that Iran was behind this — and it was unprovoked and it does deserve a response."
McCaul supported Pompeo's efforts to build a coalition against Iran.
"We shouldn't go alone on this," he said. "Neither the United States or Saudis should go this alone.
"The administration right now it's playing it right.
"Mike Pompeo is over there right now talking to the Saudis about getting our European partners to join us in a maximum-pressure campaign, which is obviously working right now because Iran is so crippled, they are getting very desperate."
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