Iran says Mideast safer without U.S.

TEHRAN, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- A senior Iranian security official said on Monday that the Middle East would be a safer place without the United States, Tasnim news agency reported.

Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, also said Washington has failed in its plans for the West Asia.

"The U.S. successive political and military defeats in the region forced the American authorities to admit the failure of their military presence in the Middle East which has cost Washington 8 trillion U.S. dollars," Shamkhani said.

The defeat of the strategic U.S. projects has become clear to the world, he added.