The New York Times editorial board took aim at President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE's strategy toward Iran on Friday, condemning the administration's response to Iran's growing influence in the Middle East as disjointed and unorganized.

The board wrote that the "lack of a coherent strategy" has led to chaos in the Middle East and to the possibility of war with Iran, pointing to questions raised over the Trump administration's official explanation for attacks on two oil tankers this week.

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"There are unanswered questions about what happened, not just on Thursday but also last month when American officials blamed Iran for similar attacks against four tankers on the same waterway, which links to the Persian Gulf and carries almost one-third of the world’s petroleum," the editors wrote.

"The incident is the latest evidence that the United States and Iran are on a collision course, at a moment in which hard-liners on both sides have little interest in any diplomatic off-ramp," the board added.

That "collision course," the editors continued, resulted from the "Trump administration’s lack of a coherent strategy for dealing with Iran," which "has resulted in a series of conflicting messages, all of which contribute to a growing sense of foreboding and unpredictability."

Questions about the Trump administration's justification for blaming two oil tanker attacks on Iranian-backed forces this week arose on Friday after the captain of one of the tanker disputed the U.S. military's account of the incident.

“Our crew said that the ship was attacked by a flying object,” the captain told reporters, disputing reports that his ship was struck by mines.

The Trump administration has stated publicly that war with Iran is not its goal, even as the U.S. ordered a carrier strike group to the region in recent weeks to respond to heightened tensions.