Commander of Iran's Quds force, Qassem Suleimani, told the leaders of Iraqi militias to "prepare for proxy war" during a meeting in Baghdad, The Guardian newspaper reported on Thursday citing two intelligence sources.

The meeting, convened by Suleimani three weeks ago amid heightened tensions in the region, had a different nature and tone.

“It wasn’t quite a call to arms, but it wasn’t far off,” one source said.