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BAGHDAD/DUBAI – The United States has halted a shipment of about US$500 million (S$637 million) in cash bound for Iraq and suspended parts of its security cooperation with Baghdad, in a move aimed at pressuring the Iraqi government over the actions of Iran-backed militias, Iraqi sources told Reuters.
The measures were taken as the fallout from the Iran war increasingly pulled Iraq into the conflict, with Iran-aligned armed groups in Iraq launching repeated drone and rocket attacks on US facilities and neighbouring states in support of Tehran.
The conflict has also been accompanied by US strikes on armed groups in Iraq, adding pressure on Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s government as it tries to balance tensions between Washington and Tehran on Iraqi soil.
Five Iraqi sources said the move was limited to shipments of physical US currency, between US$450 million and US$500 million, that are periodically flown into Baghdad.
The cash is mainly used to meet retail foreign exchange demand, including for travel, medical treatment and overseas study, while electronic dollar transfers used for imports and trade remain unaffected, an economic adviser to Mr Sudani said. The US Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The move was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
An Iraqi central bank official said there had been no formal notice of a halt to deliveries. A shipment expected in April had not arrived, and the status of another expected in May was unclear, the official said.
The cash is generated from Iraq’s oil revenues and routed through the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to the Central Bank of Iraq, under a complex system in place since the 2003 US-led invasion of the country.
An Iraqi Foreign Ministry source said Washington warned Baghdad through diplomatic channels that it would no longer tolerate the government’s failure to rein in Iran-aligned militias, who are represented in Parliament and government.
The warning referred to attacks blamed on Iraqi militias against US targets, including repeated strikes on the US Embassy in Baghdad and the US consulate in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, as well as rocket and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Syria.
The source said Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait lodged formal protests with Iraq in April over attacks launched by militias operating from Iraqi territory.
Earlier in April, Saudi Arabia summoned Iraq’s envoy in Riyadh and Bahrain summoned Iraq’s charge d’affaires in Manama over attacks they said were launched from Iraqi territory.
“Washington will not support any Iraqi government that is incapable of curbing militias backed by Iran from attacking US interests and its Gulf allies,” the Foreign Ministry source said. “This was a clear message from the United States to Baghdad.”
A Shi’ite politician close to Mr Sudani said Washington had also put military and security cooperation with Iraq – a key ally in the fight against Islamic State – on hold. That includes intelligence sharing previously provided to Baghdad. A senior Iraqi military officer said routine joint meetings with the US military had also been suspended. REUTERS
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