One-hundred Marines will be sent to the Gulf to protect British ships after tankers were attacked (Image: GETTY) Military sources said 100 soldiers from 42 Commando, stationed near Plymouth, will fly to Bahrain in the coming weeks and operate from navy ships patrolling the waters. They will make up Special Purpose Task Group 19, operating out of Britain’s new £40million naval base in Bahrain. The UK and the US have said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was behind Thursday’s explosions on two vessels in the Gulf of Oman. Related articles Iran 'fires missile' at US drone hours before Gulf of Oman attacks British mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe goes on hunger strike in jail Saudi Arabia has also said the ships - one Norwegian-owned and one Japanese-owned - were targeted by the Iranians. Troops will use speedboats and helicopters to protect warships and UK merchant vessels, reports The Sunday Times. A military source said if marines were stationed with machine-guns on the decks of warships it would deter Iranian speedboats from launching attacks. America has produced a video which it says shows Iranian forces in a small boat taking an unexploded mine off of one of the ships after the attacks. Smoke billows from one of the tankers attacked last Thursday (Image: AFP/GETTY) Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Iran was “almost certainly” behind the attacks, which Iran denies. On Monday, an emergency Cobra meeting will be held for military and national security figures to discuss Britain’s response to the attacks. A British security official told The Sunday Times: “A ballistics analysis will be carried out to determine the type of explosives used. “British experts will be on hand to provide technical support and help with forensic analysis.” Related articles Gulf of Oman attacks: Iran summons British ambassador Crisis in the Gulf: ‘War by accident is real risk over Iran’ Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Iran was 'almost certainly' behind the attacks (Image: GETTY) Reports suggest the Royal Navy has spent the past few weeks drawing up plans for the response force. Mr Hunt said it was “essential” that vessels and their crews can pass through international waters unmolested and called on the Islamic Republic to “stop all forms of destabilising activity”. His comments were slammed by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who accused him of lacking “credible evidence” linking Iran to the attacks. Mr Hunt hit back, saying Mr Corbyn’s “pathetic and predictable” views were not in line with British interests. All rights reserved for this news site express.co.uk and under his responsibility