Prime Minister Tony Abbott maintains the way could be cleared for Australian special forces troops to move into Iraq "in the next few days".

Two hundred soldiers have been stationed at the Al Minhad Base in United Arab Emirates for almost a month, waiting on the Australian and Iraqi governments to clinch a legal agreement covering their deployment.

"It is taking a little longer than we would have liked to put those legal protections in place, but I am confident that the situation will be resolved in the next few days and our forces will be able to deploy into Iraq on advise-and-assist missions," Mr Abbott said.

Media reports have quoted Iraq's foreign minister Ibrahim al-Jafaari casting doubt on whether foreign troops will be welcome in his country.

"We are absolutely against foreign military bases and the presence of foreign military forces," Mr al-Jafaari is quoted as saying.

Mr Abbott is playing down any suggestion of deeper disagreement over the deployment of foreign troops.

"There is obviously not a problem for the Americans because the Americans are on the ground in some strength already on what they think is a satisfactory legal basis," he said.

"We want the same kind of legal protections that the American forces in Iraq have and we think that's fair and reasonable."

Australian special forces 'ready to go' into Iraq

The Prime Minister repeated that Australia's special forces group will play an "advise-and-assist" role behind Iraqi forces and has no intention to conduct "independent combat operations".

Defence Force Chief Mark Binskin has been involved in talks in Washington with fellow defence chiefs from up to 20 countries, planning how the US-led coalition would strengthen Iraqi forces.

As well as expressing hope that a legal resolution would be found soon, Mr Abbott said Australia remained "very, very keen to help", adding that "our special forces are ready to go".

While the special forces element has been stranded, Super hornet jets have been flying combat operations over Iraq since October 5.

"We owe it to our special forces only to deploy them with the right legal protections," Mr Abbott said.

Australia's 600 military personnel committed to Operation Okra, including flight crews, ground staff, logistics and special forces units have been in the UAE since last month.