WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on Wednesday told reporters "the solution in Iraq is a political solution" after the commander of U.S. forces in that nation briefed Hoyer and other House members on the four-year old war there.

After listening to Gen. David Petraeus, Hoyer said he thinks the fight in Iraq is not against al Qaeda but is "a virulent sectarian battle against various factions within the Iraq populous that has not been brought under control by the Iraqis themselves."

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader John Boehner told reporters his take of the briefing was that progress had been made in Iraq but there are still "challenges ahead."

Boehner told reporters Petraeus discussed the "Iranian influence in Iraq," which Boehner called a "big source of sectarian violence." The general, he said, explained Iranian munitions and training has been fomenting violence among the various factions there.

According to Boehner, Petraeus "feels good" about the progress and performance of the U.S. troop reinforcements and the Iraqi forces, but feels "there is a lot more that needs to be done by the (Iraqi) government."