US Secretary of State Signed Waiver for Iraq to Pay Iran in Oil
Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, issued a critical national security waiver on Tuesday, allowing Iraq to pay crucial funds to Iran through non-Iraqi banks for the first time.
The anonymous source spoke out about the 120-day waiver and the potential it has to stop Iran from putting immense pressure on Iraq to hand over the money that had been restricted in Iraqi accounts prior.
In a desperate attempt to secure the funds, Tehran urged Baghdad to beg for US authorization to release the funds by drastically reducing Iranian natural gas exports to Iraq, leaving the nation with little-to-no power supply during their excessively hot summer season.
Through sanctions, payments made by Iraq for Iranian electricity can only be released from the limited accounts in Iraq after receiving approval from the US - provided that the funds are used solely for humanitarian goods.
The US is allowing Iraq to secure its payments for Iranian electricity in accounts that can only be accessed with Washington's permission-- and they must only be spent on humanitarian causes. In effect, the waiver shifts the pressure from Iraqi authorities to the nations providing the third-party banks where the funds are held.
"We're assisting the Iraqis take a stand against these relentless attempts by Iranians to access their money," said an anonymous US official, noting that Baghdad had requested this extended waiver. With this new measure in place, any attempt to acquire these protected funds without authorization will be met with swift repercussions.
