Speaking to Aljazeera on a visit to Qatar on Monday, Mohammad Javad Zarif also said that more warships in the Persian Gulf would only lead to more insecurity.
"The US [sold] $50bn worth of weapons to the region last year. Some of the countries in the region with less than a third of our population spend $87bn on military procurement," Zarif said.
"Let's make a comparison; Iran spent last year $16bn on all its military with almost one million people in the army. The UAE with a total population of one million spent $22bn, Saudi Arabia spent $87bn," he continued.
"If you are talking about threats coming from the region, the threats are coming from the US and its allies who are pouring weapons in the region, making it a tinderbox ready to blow up."
Zarif's comments come after the United States announced it is working to form a military coalition in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
"This is a tiny body of water and the more foreign naval vessels you have in this body [of] water the less secure it is for everybody. Based on experience, the presence of US and foreign naval fleet in the Persian Gulf has never produced security," he said.
"We believe the best the Americans can do for the protection of maritime navigation is to just leave people alone. Don't interfere, this is a hostile act against Iran and I don't believe any other impact other than insecurity," Zarif added.
KI/PR
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