The United States welcomes Iraq’s desire to be a “bridge” to its neighbors but will not accept “malign” Iranian influence that undermines Iraqi sovereignty, two top State Department officials told Al-Monitor.

In a joint interview Wednesday at the State Department, Assistant Secretary for Conflict and Stabilization Operations Denise Natali and Deputy Assistant for Iraq and Iran Andrew Peek emphasized the primacy of Iraqi sovereignty in US policy and a desire to work with Baghdad to address Iranian-backed militias that operate outside the control of Baghdad. The pair encouraged “balanced” state-to-state relations between Iraq and all of its neighbors after returning from a delegation to Iraq earlier this month that was led by Natali and also attended by Peek.

“There has been a proliferation of undisciplined armed actors that are not under the control of the state,” Natali said. “That, to me, has become one of the biggest impediments to stabilization assistance moving forward, in addition to the lack of security or the lack of services.”

These actors, she said, have evolved from a security threat to a major drag on Iraq’s ability to rebuild in places like Mosul.