John Kerry, the current Secretary of State, made an unannounced trip to Iraq on Sunday to lobby with Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, about flights to the United States claims carry Iranian weapons and fighters across Iraq to Syria.

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From BBC News:  

The trip is Mr Kerry's first to Iraq since taking office earlier this year, and the first by an American secretary of state since 2009.

‘I made very clear to the prime minister that the overflights from Iran are in fact helping to sustain President Assad and his regime,’ Mr Kerry told reporters. ‘I made it very clear that for those of us who are engaged in an effort to see President Assad step down... anything that supports President Assad is problematic.’

An unnamed US official earlier told the AP news agency that Iranian planes were flying over Iraq into Syria almost every day. The official said Iraq had promised to inspect the flights, but only two planes had been checked since last year.”

While Iran claims the transport only carries over humanitarian aid, the U.S. believes arms are being smuggled through the flights.

According to the Washington Post, “Kerry added that he warned Maliki that some members of Congress are beginning to question how Iraq, after receiving so much American help, could be working against the United States now. He told reporters that he and Maliki agreed to ‘try to provide more information’ about the content of shipments from Iran.”

READ MORE: Iran Says Nuclear Talks Reached 'Turning Point'

It’s been a decade since the U.S. invasion of Iraq that toppled former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the first trip to Iraq by a Secretary of State since 2009.

 

Reach Executive Producer Eric Parra here.