US turning Gulf region into tinderbox - Iran's Zarif

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday accused the United States of turning the Gulf region into a "matchbox ready to ignite", according to Al Jazeera television. The Gulf waterway "is narrow, it will become less safe as foreign (navy) vessels increase their presence in it," the Qatar-based channel cited him as saying in an interview.

"The region has become a matchbox ready to ignite because America and its allies are flooding it with weapons," he said.