While the US has at least temporarily granted Iraq a sanctions waiver
for continued trade with Iran, it is only a 90-day extension. The Trump
Administration has said such waivers are temporary, and the plan is to
move international Iran trade as close to zero as possible.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Ali al-Hakim doesn’t see this as
necessarily a requirement, however. In comments Wednesday, he said that
the unilateral US sanctions were not international, and that Iraq was “not obliged” to abide by them.
Hakim says that there are a number of possibilities for Iraq to keep the
trade going, including simply dealing in Iraqi dinars in bilateral
trade instead of the international banking system.
Trade between Iraq and Iran is hugely important, with gas supplies from
Iran vital to electricity generation. Iraqis are also heavily invested
in Iran, and are loathe to cut off trade with a neighboring nation that
they have deep business interests in just because the US demands it.
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