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Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi pressed outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel Tuesday for more airstrikes and weaponry to accelerate what he called the “descent” of ISIS, The Daily Star reported.

The plea underscored tension in the U.S.-Iraqi relationship, with Baghdad pushing for more aggressive assistance than Washington has provided so far, four months after President Barack Obama launched airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq.

It also came as the president of Iran, the key power broker in Iraq, spoke out against the reliance on “foreigners” in the battle against the jihadis, while Iraqi officials are pushing U.S. officials to push forward a planned offensive against the ISIS-held city of Mosul, according to a report in the New York Times.

The militant group was “on the descent at the moment,” Abadi told Hagel as the two met at the prime minister’s offices in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone.

“Our forces are very much advancing on the ground. But they need more air power and more ... heavy weaponry. We need that.”

Hagel, afterward, said he had held candid talks with Abadi and that delivery of some weapons had already been accelerated.