Baghdad will only respect the dollar ban in transactions with Iran, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Monday, stepping back from his commitment to abide by new U.S. sanctions on Tehran, Reuters informs. “I did not say we abide by the sanctions, I said we abide by not using dollars in transactions. We have no other choice,” Abadi stressed.
Last week the Iraqi Prime Minister said that his country disagreed with the U.S. sanctions on Iran but would abide by them to safeguard its own interests.
“Can I, the Prime Minister of Iraq, endanger the interests of Iraq just to make a stand? We don’t sympathize with the sanctions, we don’t think they are appropriate, but we are committed to protect our people,” Abadi explained back then, Express writes.
According to Rudaw, Abadi also rejected claims he has endorsed the sanctions, accusing opponents of trying to sabotage Iran-Iraq relations.
“There is no abuse either to the Islamic Republic or to the Iraqi people. Interpreting it in this way is an effort by some who try to ruin relations between Iran and Iraq. When it comes to the dollar, we will commit because such a commitment is imposed on us. That is why I proposed that if there is another currency we could deal in, we have no problem with that currency,” Abadi added.
His remarks follow a barrage of attacks by Iranian officials after the Iraqi Prime Minister said he would grudgingly comply with the sanctions. Some in Tehran even demanded reparations from Baghdad for the Iraq-Iran War (1980-88), Rudaw adds.
Abadi had been due to visit Iran for an official visit later this month, but the visit was abruptly canceled by the Iranian government. Washington and Tehran, increasingly at odds, are Iraq’s two biggest allies and the sanctions put Abadi’s outgoing government in a difficult position, Reuters adds.
As the sanctions are taking a toll on Iranian economy, OilPrice reports that Iran-affiliated militia Hashd al-Shaabi is smuggling oil from the Kirkuk province in Iraq into Iran, a former Iraqi MP told media. Amira Zangana added that the group raided houses in the city of Kirkuk, looting money, jewelry, and sometimes even cars.
“The militias of Hashd al-Shaabi have occupied the oil fields in Kirkuk, and according to sources, they smuggle the oil to Iran through Sulaimaniya, and of course the October 16 traitors are also involved in this,” Basnews quoted Zangana as saying.
The “traitors” are a group within the patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the biggest parties in the semi-autonomous region, who have been accused by other political entities of collaborating with the Baghdad forces that took control of Kirkuk and the oil fields around it in an offensive following an ill-fated independence referendum.
This is not the first report of oil smuggling by the Shia militia. In April this year, a Baghdad MP told Kurdish media that Hashd al-Shaabi was using the money it gets for the smuggled oil to strengthen its positions in Iraq while the government in Baghdad remains oblivious. The militias are responsible for ensuring the security of Kirkuk and surrounding areas and are using this position to illegally pump oil from the local fields and sell it in Iran, OilPrice added.
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