Iran welcomes U.S. forces withdrawal from Syria

TEHRAN, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Ministry on Saturday welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria.

The U.S. military presence in the Middle East fuels insecurity in the region, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said.

"Basically, U.S. forces' arrival and presence in the region were a wrong, illogical, tension-provoking and crisis-inducing move from the outset," Qasemi said.

The presence of U.S. forces "has always been one of the key causes to instability and insecurity in the region," he added.

A White House announcement on Wednesday said that Trump's administration started to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria after claiming a victory in the fight against the Islamic State.