Iran: US military deployment in Middle East ‘bluff’

Tehran, May 7 (IANS) Iran's Supreme National Security Council has described the US military deployment in the Middle East as "psychological warfare" by Washington against Tehran.

US National Security Adviser John Bolton announced on Monday the deployment of an aircraft carrier and a special group of bombers in the region to "send a clear and unequivocal message to the Iranian regime that any attack on US interests or its allies will face an implacable force".

He added that "the US is not seeking a war against the Iranian regime", but is prepared to "respond to any attack".

In response to the move, Iranian National Security Council's spokesman Keyvan Khosravi called Bolton's statement a "bluff" and "an awkward resource for the purposes of psychological warfare", state TV reported.

"Bolton does not understand military and security issues, his comments are meant to draw attention."

Khosravi said that "it is unlikely that US Army commanders will choose to test the capabilities of the Iranian Armed Forces", Efe news reported.

Iranian Defence Minister Amir Hatami said that Tehran "will defeat the psychological warfare of enemies".

Tensions have increased in the Persian Gulf since Washington announced in April the end of the exemptions it had granted to India, China, Italy, Greece, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey, in buying Iranian oil.

Tehran responded by saying that if the US blocks its oil exports it could close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important marine trade routes.

Last month, the US designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist group, to which Tehran responded by putting American troops deployed in the Middle East on its list of extremist groups.