( Reuters ) - Iran on Wednesday dismissed a long-awaited progress report by the two senior U.S. officials in Iraq saying it would not "save America from Iraq's swamp."
General David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, and ambassador Ryan Crocker testified to the U.S. Congress on Monday.
Petraeus recommended cutting U.S. troops by about 30,000 by next July, ending a so-called surge of forces but not fundamentally changing strategy in the unpopular war.
Iran has long called for U.S. forces to leave its neighbor, but a Foreign Ministry statement made clear the suggested troop withdrawal did not go far enough for Tehran.
"This report does not reflect the real demands and priorities of the majority of the American people," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said in the statement, according to the official IRNA news agency.
It was the first official reaction from Tehran about Monday's testimony, which has been welcomed by the Iraqi government.
Tehran and Washington, which have not had diplomatic ties since shortly after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, often trade blame for the bloodshed threatening to tear Iraq apart.
Iran rejects U.S. accusations it is fomenting instability in its neighbor by arming and training militias there and says the presence of U.S. forces is behind the violence.
The two old foes are also at loggerheads over Iran's nuclear programme, which the West suspects is aimed at making atom bombs. Iran says it solely aims to generate electricity.
Petraeus and Crocker appeared at a congressional hearing regarded as a pivotal moment in the U.S. debate over the war, which U.S. President George W. Bush has vowed to pursue but which many Democrats, who control Congress, say must end.