By IRNA,
Moscow : Iran’s Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar on Friday supported Kyrgyzstan’s decision to close the US military base.
“We support Kyrgyzstan’s decision on pulling out the military base in Manas, and are happy about it. We take it as good news. Iran assumes that the presence of occupiers, wherever they are, always causes trouble for residents of the region. So when we hear that occupiers are leaving the region, we always welcome it,” the Minister said.
Kyrgyzstan officially notified the United States on Friday that it denounced the agreement on the Manas air base, the Republic’s Foreign Ministry said.
The document notes that the US servicemen are to leave the Kyrgyz territory within 180 days starting February 20.
President of Kyrgyzstan Kurmanbek Bakiyev first stated the intention to close the Manas base when he was on a visit to Moscow on February 3.
The next day, the republic’s government passed a draft law denouncing the agreements with the US on the airbase to the parliament and on February 9 the bill was approved by the parliamentary committees on defense, security and law and order.