Bolton’s battle cry shows US is preparing for ‘military scenario’ in Iran - top Russian MP

A top Russian MP has warned of an escalation in the US conflict with Iran after Washington announced that it is sending a carrier strike group and bomber task force to the Middle East ‘to send a clear message’ to Tehran.

“We can’t be idle, we must beat the alarm and take a stand against such behavior from Washington in all international organizations, especially in BRICS,” Leonid Slutsky said, after the deployment of the naval force was announced by US National Security Advisor John Bolton.

Though Bolton insisted that the US “is not seeking war with the Iranian regime,” he warned that the carrier group that will soon arrive in the Persian Gulf is “fully prepared to respond to any attack” by Tehran.

Slutsky, head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, said that Bolton had failed to provide a clear explanation for the move, despite calling Tehran a threat.

“These signals, along with Washington’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal and its declaration of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, lead to further escalation,” he said.

The MP also slammed the US for its “demolition of international law,” claiming that the US is “obviously preparing the global community for a power-projection scenario in the region.”

Washington’s latest move against Tehran comes just one day after Iranian authorities announced that they would continue to export oil and sell it on the grey market in a bid to counter US sanctions, which are aimed at reducing the country’s oil exports to zero.

“We have mobilized all of the country’s resources and are selling oil on the grey market,”said Amir Hossein Zamaninia, Iran’s deputy oil minister, as quoted by IRNA news agency.

Recently, the US also imposed sanctions against Iran’s nuclear power plant at Bushehr, as well as introducing a ban on exports of heavy water and any further uranium enrichment in order to maximize pressure on the Islamic Republic.