Responding to the U.S. decision to deploy military assets as a "clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime", Foreign Minister Javad Zarif opined that the "B-Team [i.e U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton and the leaderships of Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE] is at it again... if the U.S. and its clients don't feel safe, it's because they're despised by the people of the region". "Blaming Iran", Zarif added, "won't reverse that".