now, would i do that? absolutely. but we have not planned for that. hopefully we're not going to have to plan for that. and if we did that, we'd send a hell of a lot more troops than that. >> reporter: 120,000 troops would rival the number of americans sent to invade iraq. today, a senior iranian official reportedly accused the u.s. of playing a "very dangerous game" and attempting to "drag iran into an unnecessary war." the boiling point comes one year after the president pulled out of the iran nuclear deal and amid increasing flareups. on sunday in the persian gulf, four oil tankers, including two from saudi arabia, were attacked at the entrance to the world's most important oil trading route. and american official telling abc news the initial u.s. assessment is that iran or groups supported by iran placed explosive charges on four of the ships, blowing a five to ten-foot hole in each of them. the u.s. has deployed a carrier battle group and b-52 bombers to the region. >> if they do anything, it would be a very bad mistake.