Iranian and Iraqi sources told Reuters that a visit by Iran’s Quds Force commander to Baghdad, two days after three US soldiers died in Jordan in January, stopped attacks on US troops in Iraq. The sources said the visit showed Tehran’s wish to avoid a bigger war in the region, after groups aligned with Iran increased attacks on US targets in Iraq and Syria because of Israel’s war on Gaza. The sources said Esmail Qaani met with several armed groups at Baghdad airport on 29 January, after Washington accused groups of the attack that killed its soldiers.

The attack on Tower 22 in a remote part of northeast Jordan was a shock to Washington, as it was the first public deaths of US soldiers since attacks on US troops started, after the war on Gaza began in October. Reuters quoted 10 of the sources, who are politicians, security officials, diplomats and armed group members, as saying that Qaani warned the Iraqi groups that killing Americans could lead to a strong US reaction.

The Iranian commander said the militias should lie low, to avoid US strikes on their senior commanders, destruction of key infrastructure or even a direct retaliation against Iran, the sources said.

While one faction did not initially agree to Qaani’s request, most others did. The next day, Kataeb Hezbollah, the most powerful and active Iranian-backed Shia militia in Iraq, announced it was suspending attacks.

The US struck 85 targets in Syria and Iraq linked to Iran and its allies on 2 February, in response to the attack. A week after Qaani’s visit, the US military killed Abu Baqir al-Saadi, a top commander in Kataeb Hezbollah. The strike happened as US officials thought Iran was trying to control its proxies to avoid attacks on US forces that could start a bigger war.

There have been no attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria since 4 February, unlike more than 20 in the two weeks before Qaani’s visit. A senior commander in one of the Iraqi armed groups aligned with Iran said, “Kataeb Hezbollah would not have stopped its military operations to lower the tension without Qaani’s direct intervention.