Reuters - Unpopularity in the Middle East is the cause of U.S. safety concerns, not Iran, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Twitter on Tuesday, after Washington said it was sending a carrier strike group and bombers to the region.

U.S. National Security Advisor 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.

“If US and clients don’t feel safe, it’s because they’re despised by the people of the region — blaming Iran won’t reverse that,” Zarif wrote.


Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Alison Williams