tensions here have been escalating for weeks. just last month, four tankers were targeted in these same seas in a coordinated series of explosions that crippled the ships. the u.s. blamed iran for those attacks, too, accusations tehran has vehemently denied. the united arab emirates' foreign minister called the attacks "a worrying and dangerous escalation." they all took place near the strait of hormuz, where almost a third of the world's oil supplies shipped by sea pass through the narrow waterway that skirts the coast of iran, and a potential flash point between the u.s. navy's fifth fleet and iranian forces that patrol the waters. just last week, we were on board the u.s.s. "abraham lincoln," the aircraft carrier leading the strike group that rescued crew members in the recent attack, although rescuing stricken vessels wasn't really part of the mission laid out by rear admiral john f.g. wade. >> first is to deter iranian