BAGHDAD: US Secretary of State John Kerry made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Sunday and a senior US official said he would urge Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to make sure Iranian flights over Iraq were not carrying arms to Syria.

“He will be very direct with Prime Minister Maliki about the importance of stopping the Iranian overflights and the transits across the territory or, at a minimum, inspecting each of the flights,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Kerry will also ask Maliki and the Iraqi cabinet to reconsider a decision to postpone elections in two provinces, Anbar and Nineveh, the official said.