TEHRAN/LONDON, May 18 (WNM staff) - Iran’s most prominent military leader has recently met Iraqi militias in Baghdad and told them to “prepare for proxy war”, the Guardian reports.

The Guardian quotes two anonymous “senior intelligence sources” having said that Qassem Suleimani, leader of Iran’s powerful Quds force, had summoned the militias under Tehran’s influence three weeks ago.

The Guardian writes: “Leaders of all the militia groups that fall under the umbrella of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Units (PMUs) were in attendance at the meeting called by Suleimani, the intelligence sources claimed. One senior figure who learned about the meeting had since met with western officials to express concerns.”

There is no independent confirmation to the claims of the intelligence personnel.

While Suleimani has met regularly with leaders of Iraq’s myriad Shia groups over the past five years, the nature and tone of this gathering was different. “It wasn’t quite a call to arms, but it wasn’t far off,” one source said to the Guardian.

However, it is not clear whether the meeting was a strategic one with the goal to attack the U.S. or whether the high alert of the Quds force is the result of the ongoing threats of the U.S.-government to attack Iran.