'US faces contradictory situation East of Euphrates'

The U.S. faces a "contradictory" situation in the area of Syria east of the Euphrates River, said a top Iranian security official on Monday.

"The U.S.' Syria strategy collapsed. Now it faces a contradictory situation east of the Euphrates," said Ali Shamkhani, the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.

"The U.S. will start to withdraw from the region in 2019. This way, the U.S. has to leave the Persian Gulf as well," Shamkhani told an international security conference in the capital Tehran.

Turkey says it is planning a counter-terrorist operation east of the Euphrates against the terror group PKK/YPG.

Following the surprise announcement in December that U.S. forces would leave Syria, U.S. officials on Sunday said withdrawal was conditional on the U.S. not attacking the "Kurds," meaning the terrorist PKK/YPG.

Turkish officials attacked the U.S. conflation of "Kurds" with the terror group, saying it is targeting a terrorist group which threatens Arabs, Turkmens, and Kurds in Syria.

In its 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK has taken some 40,000 lives. The YPG is its Syrian branch.

In the original withdrawal announcement, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed American forces were leaving as they had defeated Daesh.

However, Shamkhani said the U.S. had no role in defeating Daesh in Syria.