Arab states of the Persian Gulf
The incident occurred three days before President Bush was due to travel to Israel and Arab states of the Persian Gulf for talks on the Israeli-Palestinian relations, U.S. arms sales to the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, and the American claim that Iran was a dangerous nation with intentions of producing nuclear weapons (see Nuclear program of Iran). The White House said the incident was an example of irresponsible, provocative, and aggressive behavior by the Iranian government, with President Bush warning that "all options are on the table to secure" U.S. military assets