The US military is not in Iraq "to seize anybody's oil", Defence Secretary Jim Mattis says distancing himself from remarks by President Donald Trump.
"I think all of us here in this room, all of us in America have generally paid for our gas and oil all along and I'm sure that we will continue to do so in the future," Mattis told a small group of reporters travelling with him as he discussed his objectives for the Iraq visit.
"We're not in Iraq to seize anybody's oil."
Mattis is the first senior official in the Trump administration to visit Iraq.
Mattis' comments may provide some reassurance to the Iraqis. But the tensions come at a critical point in the war against IS, with two key battles in the works: the fight to take control of west Mosul, and the start of a campaign in Syria to oust IS from Raqqa, the capital of its self-declared caliphate.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has taken a measured approach, but the issues can roil already difficult internal politics.
Under the president's deadline, Mattis has just a week to send Trump a strategy to accelerate the fight and defeat Islamic State. And any plan is likely to depend on US and coalition troops working with and through the local forces in both countries.
"We're going to make certain that we've got good situational awareness of what we face as we work together and fight alongside each other," Mattis said.
His key goal during the visit is to speak about the military operations with political leaders and commanders on the ground, including his top commander in Iraq, Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend.
Asked about the tensions, Mattis said he has been assured that the travel ban - it has been stalled by a legal challenge - would not affect Iraqis who have fought alongside US forces.
The oil issue, however, may be more difficult. Trump brought it up during the campaign, and he mentioned it again late last month during a visit to the CIA.
"To the victor belong the spoils," Trump told members of the intelligence community. He said he first argued this case for "economic reasons," but added it made sense as a counterterrorism approach to defeating IS "because that's where they made their money in the first place."
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