Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi visited Iran and met with Iranian senior officials. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei told al-Kadhimi that “Iran is definitely opposed to anything that weakens the Iraqi government. Of course, the Americans’ outlook concerning Iraq is the exact opposite of ours… it does not wish to see an independent, strong Iraq”. “The presence of the U.S. in any country will bring about corruption, ruin and destruction”, Khamenei opined, adding that Iran “expects the decision made by the Iraqi government, nation and parliament to expel the Americans to be implemented because their presence leads to insecurity”. In a separate meeting with President Rouhani, al-Kadhimi affirmed that “Iraq is a country that will never allow any threat from its territory to the Islamic Republic of Iran because the relations between the two countries go back hundreds of years and we must support these long-standing relations”.