President George W. Bush delivers a speech at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi January 13, 2008. Bush is on a week-long trip to the Middle East. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah

RIYADH (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Tuesday that he would hold Iran responsible if it hit American ships and warned the Islamic Republic not to behave provocatively in Gulf waters.

“If they hit our ships, we will hold Iran responsible,” Bush told a small group of journalists. “They’d better be careful and not be provocative.”

Bush reiterated his threat of serious consequences if Iranian vessels confront U.S. war ships in the Gulf but insisted he had told Gulf Arab leaders on a regional tour that “I want to solve this diplomatically.”

Washington says its warships were threatened by Iranian craft in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for crude oil shipments from the world’s biggest producing region.