US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth affirmed on Tuesday that the United States sees that strengthening relations with Iraq requires Baghdad to disarm militias allied with Iran.

Hegseth said in a post on his X account: 'I hosted Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zeidi at the Pentagon today.'

He added: 'To strengthen our partnership, Iraq must impose its sovereignty and disarm militias allied with Iran.'

He continued: 'Washington looks forward to Iraqi security forces taking a leading role in efforts to defeat ISIS.'

Hegseth noted that militias allied with Iran are responsible for more than 600 attacks on American personnel this spring.

Hegseth concluded by saying that 'a secure Iraq opens the door to strong commercial and defense cooperation.'

In a related context, the Iraqi Prime Minister's office said that al-Zeidi received US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and his accompanying delegation at his residence in Washington on Tuesday.

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According to al-Zeidi's office, the Iraqi Prime Minister affirmed to Bessent 'the government's priority in combating corruption and limiting weapons to the state.'

Al-Zeidi stressed that 'the government is proceeding with implementing a comprehensive reform and restructuring process for the banking and insurance sectors, along with tax and customs reform, contributing to building a more efficient and sustainable economy.'

For his part, the US Treasury Secretary expressed his country's support for the Iraqi government's policy and its serious direction towards transitioning the relationship between the two countries from military presence to investment, economic development, and business sector growth, moving towards achieving real economic growth through optimal utilization of Iraq's economic resources and potential.

Bessent pointed to the United States' readiness to help Iraq and enable it to implement its economic plans and programs, overcome obstacles to development, and work on setting a timeline to support the Iraqi economy and strengthen economic and financial reform paths.