ABNA24 - The United States is using political, security and economic tools to influence decision-making in Baghdad, including its relations with Iran, a West Asia affairs expert has said, identifying control over dollar flows and Iraq’s oil revenues as Washington’s main leverage over the Iraqi government.
Speaking to Fars News, senior West Asia analyst Najah Mohammad Ali said Iraq’s oil revenues are received in US dollars, while the mechanisms for holding and transferring these funds operate through the Central Bank of Iraq and accounts linked to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, leaving the country’s financial system heavily influenced by the US financial system.
He said that although Iraq is politically an independent country, it continues to face serious structural constraints and dependencies in the financial and banking sectors. Washington can impose heavy costs on the Baghdad government by threatening sanctions against Iraqi banks, restricting access to dollars, putting pressure on financial transactions and even disrupting Iraq’s access to its oil revenues.
Referring to Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein’s remarks about closing border crossings with Iran, Mohammad Ali said Hussein had told Al Jazeera that the United States had officially asked the Iraqi government to close all land border crossings with Iran, with the exception of two.He said the remarks indicate that Washington’s demands go beyond security controls or monitoring border activities, and that a broad restriction of Iraq’s land connections with the Islamic Republic of Iran has officially become part of the US agenda.
Commenting on Baghdad’s closure of the al-Shaib border crossing, also known as Chazabeh, in Iraq’s Maysan Province, the analyst said the decision should be viewed within the broader framework of US efforts to restrict Iraq’s economic and commercial ties with Iran, in light of the Iraqi foreign minister’s official statements.
Mohammad Ali stressed that Hussein’s remarks demonstrate that US pressure in this case is an officially acknowledged and documentable reality.He added that Washington is seeking to employ a combination of economic, financial, security and diplomatic instruments to restrict Iran’s capacity to maintain ties with Iraq, describing the policy as part of the broader US pressure campaign against Tehran.
/129
Your Comment