Iran's security body said a US announcement of sending a carrier strike group and bombers to the Middle East to send a message to Tehran amounted to "psychological warfare", the semi-official Tasnim news agency said on Tuesday.
US national security adviser John Bolton said on Sunday the United States was deploying the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Middle East to send a message to Iran.
"Bolton's statement is a clumsy use of a burnt-out happening for psychological warfare, said Keyvan Khosravi, spokesman for the Supreme National Security Council, according to Tasnim, adding that the carrier had arrived in the Mediterranean weeks ago.