Iran has withdrawn nearly all its estimated 2,000 troops from Lebanon where they deployed in 1982 and helped create the Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah, The Washington Post said Wednesday. US and European officials said only 12 to 50 Revolutionary Guards remain in Lebanon, as part of a phased withdrawal that began more than five years ago that has elicited surprise among officials of the administrations of US President George W Bush and his predecessor Bill Clinton. The daily said senior US officials as recently as Friday had estimated the Iranian troop presence in Lebanon at around 800, and that until last month the White House continued to press for the withdrawal from Lebanon of Iranian, as well as Syrian, forces. Iran has not publicly declared it was pulling its troops out of Lebanon, the daily added. Iran sent its forces to protect Lebanon's Shiite Muslim population after Israel's 1982 military invasion of its neighbor. While the absence of Iranian forces changes the political and security dynamics in Lebanon, US officials said, it does not eliminate Iran's influence over Lebanon's Shiite population or its financial and military support of Hezbollah. "Iran plays a key role in supporting logistically, politically and materially a whole variety of elements in resisting the peace process," said a senior State Department official who asked not to be identified. "It's active in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories," he added.