With friction between the US and Iraq’s Shia-led government rising to new highs in the run-up to American elections next week, leaders in Baghdad are moving to extract concessions from Washington on the status of US forces in the country.

Iraqi parliamentarians are trying to change the guidelines that govern the US-led multinational force in Iraq – including lifting the immunity from prosecution in Iraq enjoyed by troops – when the United Nations resolution authorising its presence there comes up for renewal at the end of the year.