![US troops patrol in their military vehicles near the Syrian border on 17 December 2020 [DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/GettyImages-1230176922-scaled-e1621864950127.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
The US Department of Defence has denied the validity of Iranian media reports about the withdrawal of US troops from its military bases in Syria.
A Pentagon spokesperson confirmed in a statement to the Russian RIA Novosti: “This is not true. The standards of our mission in Syria remain the same. We made calls this morning to confirm this.”
On Wednesday, the Iranian Al-Alam channel had previously quoted an unidentified military source, claiming that the US evacuated three of its military bases in Al-Omar field, east of Deir ez-Zor, Tall Baydar and Qasrak in the countryside of Al-Hasakah governorate.
Most of the lands of the oil-rich governorates of Al-Hasakah, Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa (north and north-eastern Syria) are under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) backed by the Global Coalition Against Daesh led by the US.
Read: Negotiations on Daraa reach dead end
Syrian authorities accuse the US of working to: “Smuggle Syrian oil and sell it abroad to deprive the Syrians of it in a flagrant violation of international law.”
In 2019, former US President Donald Trump approved a plan to withdraw his country’s forces deployed in Syria. However, as a result of pressure from members of his administration, he later decided to keep 900 military personnel to ensure US control of the oil fields seized in the Jazira Region.