FM: Iraq Not Obliged to Follow US Sanctions Against Iran US sanctions are unilateral, could be bypassed
by Jason Ditz
January 2, 2019
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.
Poster Comment:
All the depleted Uranium that was expended in Iraq is now being cleaned up and put into drums. Those drums are being returned to the U.S. and are being buried in old mine shafts in Idaho.