"[As for] the military mission in Syria, that's why we have forces on the ground, the military mission is the defeat of ISIS [Daesh]… There is no other military mission", McGurk said when asked about the US leadership remarks regarding the Iranian forces' presence in Syria.
In late September, US National Security Adviser John Bolton said that the United States would not withdraw its forces from Syria until Iran or its proxies had no military presence in the country.
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The United States has been seeking Iranian forces withdrawal from Syria, insisting that their presence in the country reduces the possibility of achieving a political settlement to the crisis and hinders the struggle against the Daesh terrorist group.
According to Moscow, however, the coalition showed modest results, as 2,000 Daesh militants continued to control nine settlements along the east bank of the Euphrates River, where in recent months at least 1,500 civilians have been killed in US-led coalition airstrikes.
* Daesh (ISIL/ISIS/IS/Islamic State) is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia
