Referring to the U.S. presence at al-Tanf, Russia's Foreign Ministry remarked that "under the excuse of fighting against ISIS and - as we were told - in order to contain Iran, a big U.S. military base was set up there, in a strategically important area adjacent to the borders of Syria, Iraq and Jordan, which is close to the highway connecting Baghdad and Damascus. And there, according to numerous witness accounts, militant training is underway".