Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei provided a range of advice during a recent meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. Khamenei advised Iraqis to be vigilant and not trust the United States, and called for “standing against the involvement of US forces under the pretext of training or other matters.”

In the June 20 meeting, he also warned of the danger of the United States and its allies' waging a campaign against the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), an Iraqi coalition of mostly Shiite militias backed by Iran, saying the United States seeks to compromise one of Iraq's key power components.

That advice, however, doesn't align with the Iraqi government’s agenda and its wish to pursue and sustain US cooperation, according to Iraqi government spokesman Saad al-Hadithi. The contradiction has affected the relationship between Abadi, who is also commander in chief of the Iraqi armed forces, and senior PMU leaders, some of whom have close ties with Iran and consider themselves an important part of the Iran-led Axis of Resistance alongside the militant group Hezbollah and the Syrian regime.

In a recent dispute between those PMU leaders and Abadi, the latter said June 18 that the PMU has sometimes refused to follow his orders.