Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami downplayed deployment of the US aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf as psychological warfare against Iran, saying that Washington is not brave enough to launch a war. RNA - "Dispatching the US aircraft carrier to the regional waters is nothing but psychological warfare and the US wants to intimidate people and some officials of war," Mohammad Ali Pourmokhtar, a senior Iranian legislator, quoted General Salami as saying in a closed-door session with the parliamentarians in Tehran.
"The IRGC commander said that US war on Iran is impossible and the US lacks power and does not dare to start a war against Iran," the MP told Fars News Agency.
According to Pourmokhtar, General Salami underlined Iran's high defense power and the vulnerability of the US carriers as why Washington would not dare to take the risk of war against Iran.
John Bolton, President Donald Trump's national security adviser, announced last Sunday that the US would send the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and its associated strike group to the waters near Iran to "send a message" and respond to what he called as vague threats.
But analysts believe that the US will be sending the powerful carrier to a job it's arguably ill-suited for, putting thousands of sailors at a major military disadvantage. And if a conflict were to arise, the sinking of a US aircraft carrier would be in Iran's sights.
Also, military experts have said that the carrier's deployment to Iran's nearby waters may have been planned long ago.
Meantime, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday that the Trump administration did not want war with Iran.
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