According to Reuters, sources close to Moqtada Al-Sadr and Hadi Al-Amiri, two influential political figures in Iraq claim that in a secret meeting on Wednesday, Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Quds Force, prevented the ousting of Adil Abdul-Mahdi, the prime minister of Iraq.

Quds force is the international operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

After the month-long uprisings in Iraq, Moqtada al-Sadr, influential Shia cleric and the leader of Sadr Movement called for early elections and asked Amiri, the leader of United Iraqi Alliance to help in ousting the prime minister of Iraq.

Associated Press had previously reported that Soleimani had told Iraqi security officials in a secret meeting: We in Iran know how to deal with protests. The same thing happened in Iran and we got it under control.”

The spokesmen for Sadr and Amiri are yet to respond to these claims, but an Iranian security official on Wednesday confirmed the report and told Reuters: “Iraq’s security is important to us and we have helped them in the past. The commander of Quds force travels to Iraq and other countries of the region regularly, especially when our allies ask for our help.”