President Bush began his first official tour of the Middle East yesterday with a stern warning to Iran that it would face “serious consequences” if its forces attacked American naval ships in the Gulf.

“My advice to them is, ‘Don’t do it’,” Mr Bush said in a press conference in Jerusalem, where he had been discussing with Israeli leaders the renewed peace process with the Palestinians and the risk of conflict with Tehran, which Israel regards as a serious threat.

“We have made it clear publicly and they know our position, and that is there will be serious consequences if they attack our ships, pure and simple,” Mr Bush said. He was speaking three days after Iranian gunboats reportedly threatened to explode themselves against US vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

“The National Security Adviser was making it abundantly clear that all options are on the table to protect our assets,” the President said.

The American military released footage that it said showed Revolutionary Guard speedboats approaching three US warships, together with a transcript of Iranian commandos threatening to blow themselves up in an attack on the vessels. Iran said that the footage was faked from archive pictures and accused Washington of trying to provoke tensions as Mr Bush toured the region drumming up support against Tehran.

Even as Mr Bush landed in Tel Aviv to throw his weight behind efforts to revive peace talks, 50 miles (80km) to the south, Hamas protesters in Gaza burnt American flags and militants fired more rockets at the Israeli town of Sderot. Many here are sceptical that the US leader can achieve in less than a year what decades of alternating talks and conflicts have failed to resolve. Shimon Peres, the Israeli President, in his greeting address to Mr Bush, gave warning that “the next 12 months will be a moment of truth . . . It must not yield just words.”

Palestinian fighters fired at least five crude Qassam rockets at Sderot, striking a house and wounding one Israeli in the town close by the Gaza border that has been hit by thousands of rockets in recent years.

Israeli forces responded with strikes on the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, killing one militant and two civilians, Palestinian sources said.

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