Iraqi officials say Baghdad wants to minimize reliance on U.S.

BAGHDAD — The Iraqi government has told its military not to seek assistance from the U.S.-led coalition in operations against the Islamic State group, two senior Iraqi military officials said, amid a crisis of mistrust between Washington and Baghdad after an American strike killed a top Iranian general and an Iraqi militia commander.

The step shows that while the Iraqi leadership’s demands for an immediate removal of American forces have cooled, they are serious about rethinking the strategic relationship, and this is directly affecting military cooperation.

Officially, Iraqis have been unclear on the status of joint operations. The Iraqi military announced Jan. 30 that they had resumed after a three-week halt, but that statement was later removed and a military spokesperson rescinded the claim in remarks to state television. It was not followed up with a clarification.

The halt had been called amid soaring tensions following the Jan. 3 U.S. drone strike ordered by President Donald Trump that killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani and senior Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad.

On at least two occasions in January, U.S. officials said they expected the pause would be lifted imminently. But in practice, Iraqis are seeking to minimize cooperation with the anti-IS coalition, based on government orders, two Iraqi military officials and one militia official said this week.

“After the killing of Soleimani, the Iraqi government decided to inform us formally not to cooperate and not to seek assistance from the U.S.-led international coalition in any operation,” a senior military intelligence official told the Associated Press.