Iran security body spurns US ‘gauche’ psy-war bid

Iran’s top security apparatus dismisses as a “gauche” attempt at psychological warfare, the US’s recent statement that it has sent an aircraft carrier and a bomber task force to the region to warn the Islamic Republic.

The Supreme National Security Council (SNSC)’s spokesman Keivan Khosravi made the remarks after the US National Security Advisor John Bolton “announced” the deployment, calling it a means of conveying a “clear message” to Tehran, IRNA reported on Monday.

Citing surveillance information relayed by Iranian Armed Forces, Khosravi said the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier had already entered the Mediterranean 21 days ago.

“Bolton’s statement amounts to gauche recourse to an abortive development for psychological warfare [purposes],” the Iranian official noted.

“Bolton lacks understanding of military and security issues. His remarks are more intended to serve as braggadocio,” Khosravi added.

‘US forces disinterested in testing Iran’

He cited the precedent of the US military’s sustained defeats in the face of regional crises, saying, “It is unlikely that the US military’s commanders and main components would be inclined towards testing the Iranian Armed Forces’ proven capabilities.”

Bolton had said that the deployment was an alleged response "to a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings."

Last month, the SNSC designated the US as a supporter of terrorism and the US forces based in West Asia, known as the US Central Command, as a terrorist organization after the White House blacklisted the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Iran’s elite defense force.

The move by Washington came as part of its campaign of “maximum pressure” on Iran initiated under President Donald Trump.

Tehran has sternly warned about the move’s implications for regional and international security.

Since May 2, the US has been enacting its most-vaunted piece of the policy by trying to reduce Iran’s oil exports to “zero.”

The Islamic Republic has also warned it could shut the Strait of Hormuz, the transit route for the bulk of the world’s oil shipments, in response to the US’s hostile actions.

In late April and amid the US’s back-to-back threats against Iran’s energy sector, Iran’s top military commander delivered an update on the status quo at the strategic waterway. Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri said all American ships passing through the Strait had so far remained answerable to the IRGC as the force in charge of security in the watercourse.