Syria pullout a sign of Washington’s weakness – Iranian military officials

Tabnak – A week after US President Donald Trump’s surprise decision to pull American troops out of Syria, high-ranking Iranian officials clarify their position toward the move, emphasizing that Washington is now in a weak position in the region. Iran also believes that the US is not seeking to eradicate the threat of terrorism in the Middle East.

In this vein, the deputy commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says President Donald Trump's decision to pull out US troops from Syria is a sign of Washington's defeat in the region. The decision is an “obvious retreat and the defeat and burial of US policies and strategies in the region,” Brigadier Hossein Salami said on Saturday.

“They spent $7 trillion in the region, and are leaving today without any achievements,” said the general on the sidelines of a conference on "40 years of plots and 40 years of resistance" in Tehran.

Salami was apparently referring to Trump's remarks during a sneak trip to Iraq on Thursday and his acknowledgement of concerns about visiting Iraq.

“Pretty sad when you spend $7 trillion in the Middle East, and going in has to be under this massive cover with planes all over and all of the greatest equipment in the world, and you do everything to get in safely,” the US president said.

In separate remarks, the deputy head of the Iranian Army’s Center for Strategic Studies pointed to the recent decision by the US administration to withdraw all its forces from Syria, saying that Washington has no way other than escaping from the region. Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, Brigadier General Mohammad Hassan Nami said the US has bullishly declared that it will pull its troops from Syria.

The Americans, themselves, have created the Daesh (ISIS o ISIL) terrorist group, he said, adding that Daesh got into trouble more than 19 times, and the US provided them with their needed weapons and equipment. “The US is really desperate and has no way other than escaping from the region,” the commander went on to say.

In the same vein, an Iranian diplomat says the United States does not want the eradication of terrorism and Daesh terrorist group in the Middle East but rather it desires to command them in order to keep tensions in the region.

Addressing a meeting with Iraqi university students and media activists in Baghdad on Friday, Iranian Ambassador to Baghdad Iraj Masjedi said the Islamic Republic withdrew all its military advisors from Iraq immediately after the defeat of Daesh terrorists in the country, ISNA reported.

It’s noteworthy that Trump's decision to withdraw all US troops from Syria has shocked and angered many American politicians who want to see the back of President Bashar al-Assad.

On Friday, leading US Senator Lindsey Graham warned in a tweet about a “major disaster” if Syrian Kurdish militants aligned with Assad following Trump's decision. “If reports accurate about Kurds aligning with Assad, major disaster in the making,” he said.

Graham's remarks came after the Kurdish residents of Manbij asked the Syrian government to retake the city following the US pledge to withdraw troops from the Arab country. The Syrian army said later it had entered the city as it pledged to guarantee "full security for all Syrian citizens and others present in the area."