Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi says the US presence in the Persian Gulf is not justified, IRNA reported.
"This issue does not provide any reason for legitimacy of the US troops' presence in the Persian Gulf region," Vahidi told reporters after a cabinet session when asked to comment on a western media report that 13 Iranian sailors were rescued by the US forces in the Persian Gulf.
Vahidi said Iranian Foreign Ministry has announced Tehran's stances on the rescue of the Iranians by the US navy.
"We do not reject the good nature of the work by the US navy; however, that cannot provide any reason for the presence of western forces in the Persian Gulf region," he added.
He said the UK decision to send its biggest naval destroyer to the Persian Gulf is of no significance.