Iran says US hit by 'hysteria' since dropping nuclear deal; Zarif calls Poland summit a "desperate circus"

DUBAI: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif criticised Poland on Friday for jointly hosting a global summit with the United States focused on the Middle East, particularly Iran, calling it a "desperate anti-Iran circus".

Earlier on Friday Washington announced that the summit would be held in Warsaw from Feb. 13 to Feb. 14, and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the meeting would focus on stability and security in the Middle East, including on the "important element of making sure that Iran is not a destabilising influence."

Writing on his Twitter account, Zarif said:

"Reminder to host/participants of anti-Iran conference: those who attended last U.S. anti-Iran show are either dead, disgraced, or marginalised. And Iran is stronger than ever."

He went on to write that "while Iran saved Poles in WWII, it now hosts desperate anti-Iran circus."

Relations between Tehran and Washington are once more highly fraught following the decision in May by President Donald Trump to pull the U.S. out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers and to reimpose sanctions.

Earlier on Friday, Iran said the United States is suffering from "hysteria" over its inability to find alternatives to the landmark nuclear deal it walked away from last year.

Washington "pulled out of a comprehensive and legitimate agreement achieved through negotiation, and is now afflicted with chronic hysteria as it can't find an alternative to it", foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said on his Telegram channel.

The US pulled out of the 2015 nuclear accord negotiated with Iran in May last year and reimposed punishing economic sanctions on the country.

The charge was Tehran's first reaction to anti-Iran remarks made Thursday by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Cairo while on a whistle-stop tour of the region.

Speaking at the American University, the top US diplomat said Washington was creating an anti-Iran front -- the Middle East Strategic Alliance -- bringing together Gulf countries as well as Egypt and Jordan.

"It's time for old rivalries to end, for the sake of the greater good of the region," Pompeo said.

Ghasemi called Pompeo's proposed plan "a path with no benefit for America" and said that it proves the current US administration is the enemy of Iran and its people.

Pompeo's tour is aimed at reassuring US allies after President Donald Trump's shock decision to withdraw all 2,000 American troops from Syria.