American and Saudi strikes on Iran-backed militias this week laid bare the dilemma at the heart of the Trump administration’s Iraq policy: Washington wants to pull Baghdad closer, but Iraq remains on the front lines of a widening confrontation with Iran. Following US-Saudi strikes in eastern Iraq, President Donald Trump told Fox News the operation had been “coordinated” with the Iraqi government, but within hours, Iraqi leadership condemned the strikes. The dueling messages demonstrated the political bind facing Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, the businessman-turned-politician who has sought to strengthen ties with Washington by pledging to rein in powerful Iran-backed militias that continue to wield significant influence inside Iraq. “Such a claim from the president, whether true or not, is deeply challenging for the prime minister,” said Victoria Taylor, director of the Iraq Initiative at the Atlantic Council. “It would be politically untenable for any Iraqi government official to suggest that they had greenlit a foreign force attacking on Iraqi soil.”