The briefing on "options" for responding to Iran were followed by a late Friday Pentagon announcement that it is deploying US troops to Saudi Arabia as a "first step" which could be followed by additional "kinetic" moves down the road. "As the President has made clear the United States does not seek conflict with Iran. That said we have many other military options available should they be necessary," Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in the briefing.

Iran on Saturday responded to the move by again declaring any potential "limited" US attack on Iran would certainly lead to rapid escalation. The head of Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Major General Hossein Salami, said in remarks broadcast on state TV that no such limited strikes would actually remain 'limited'.