TEHRAN — The former U.S. envoy to Syria, James Jeffrey, has stated that U.S. forces will remain in Syria to cut off Tehran-Damascus connection.

"The aim of the United States' presence abroad is to strengthen the security interests of the United States and its allies, as well as to promote foreign policy by being present on [other countries'] soil," Jeffrey told North Press.

"The United States' mission in Syria is a fight to defeat ISIS, which has been carried out with the agreement of Congress," he added, claiming that U.S. soldiers in Syria have the same mission.

"In their presence, American forces hinder other forces from being there, and they do the same in Syria," he said, referring to the presence of U.S. forces in several nations that do not even have an army.

"We're in al-Tanf [Syria] to cut off the primary route between Damascus and Tehran in the south," Jeffrey said. "There were efforts to put pressure on Bashar al-dictatorship Assad during the Trump administration."

In this regard, the American newspaper Daily Beast released new data and attacked the plan in December 2019, after the U.S. administration announced its desire to keep a military presence in northern Syria, labelling it a military presence for what it described as "oil looting."

Former U.S. President Donald Trump had stated that the U.S. will maintain a small number of troops in northern Syria.

According to a U.S. official, U.S. forces will be stationed near the Deir ez-Zor oil field. Another facility that the U.S. will keep in Syria is al-Tanf, which is far from the country's oil riches and front lines.