“We may seriously be facing some important decisions from President Trump's new administration regarding Iraq, Iran, and the region, both economically and politically,” Shakhawan Abdullah, the second deputy of the Iraqi parliament, said in a speech he delivered at the University of Soran.
Abdullah noted that Washington’s anticipated decisions, particularly regarding sanctions, should come as unsurprising to Baghdad as Iraqi officials have repeatedly been warned of their possibility.
“If issued in the future, the decisions [against the government of Iraq] should not come as a surprise because they were prepared in advance and we have frequently warned against their issuance but unfortunately you couldn’t understand our messages or respond to them,” he said, citing US officials.
On Saturday, Reuters cited eight informed officials as saying that the Trump administration is readying sanctions against the Iraqi government alongside Iran if it does not allow Kurdish oil exports to be restarted.
Iraq’s central bank last week blocked five private banks from dealing in US dollars at the request of the US Treasury.
In early February, 12 US members of congress urged Washington to blacklist and sanction Iran-backed militias in Iraq and end “all security assistance to Iraq” as long as the groups remain part of the Iraqi government.
