Iraq, the US review Iran’s financial dues

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fuad Hussein, and the US Department of the Treasury’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson, discussed on Friday Iran’s financial dues in the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI).

The meeting addressed bilateral, economic, and financial relations between the two countries as well as issues of common interest, according to a statement released by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.

The two sides reviewed the reforms carried out by the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI), emphasizing how crucial it is to achieve development in order to develop the financial and banking sectors in Iraq.

The spokesperson of the US State Department, Matthew Miller, said in a press conference in mid-March that the US had extended a 120-day waiver that permits Iraq to pay Iran for electricity supplies.

Last year, Washington started granting exceptions, emphasizing that the funds may only be utilized for non-sanctioned transactions such as the purchase of humanitarian goods, including food and agricultural products.

The governor of the CBI, Ali Al-Alaq, disclosed that he had discussions with the US Treasury to reevaluate the sanctions imposed on Iraqi banks.

Al-Alaq revealed that there are ongoing meetings with the US Treasury, noting that the two sides agreed to reconsider the sanctions imposed on Iraqi banks.

Last July, the United States barred 14 Iraqi banks from conducting US dollar transactions as part of a crackdown on transferring US currency to Iran and other sanctioned countries.

The step highlights the ongoing efforts to lessen Iran’s access to international financial networks.

Iraq barred eight local commercial banks from carrying out transactions in US dollars, reducing fraud, money laundering, and other illicit uses of US cash.

The banks are prohibited from participating in the daily US dollar auction held by the CBI, which is the primary source of foreign currency for Iraq and the focus of an American campaign against the smuggling of money into Iran, according to Reuters.

Nelson said earlier that Iraq has made significant progress in rooting out illicit activity from its financial system, but unscrupulous actors continue to seek to take advantage of the Iraqi economy to raise and move money for illicit activity.