Reuters - Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday denied that his country was responsible for increased threats against a U.S. consulate in the Iraqi city of Basra.

�We of course have influence in Iraq but that does not mean we control people in Iraq, as the United States doesn�t control people in countries with whom it has good relations,� Zarif said on CNN�s �Fareed Zakaria GPS.�

Zarif added that recent warnings issued to the Iranian government by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and White House national security adviser John Bolton were counterproductive.

�Mr. Pompeo and Mr. Bolton, instead of making these irrelevant threats that would produce no positive results, need to look at their own policies,� Zarif said.

The United States announced on Friday it will effectively close the consulate following increasing threats from Iran and Iran-backed militia, including rocket fire.

Pompeo, as he explained the move, renewed a warning that the United States would hold Iran directly responsible for any attacks on Americans and U.S. diplomatic facilities.

�I have made clear that Iran should understand that the United States will respond promptly and appropriately to any such attacks,� Pompeo said in a statement.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said on Saturday that the consulate closure was �unjustified and unnecessary�, and said Iran condemned any attack on diplomats or diplomatic locations, according to the ministry�s website.

Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Lisa Shumaker