Diversifying Iraq's oil sales: A call to counter USD sanctions

Shafaq News / The Financial Committee in the Iraqi Parliament urged, on Wednesday, selling Iraqi oil in currencies other than the US dollar to counter the sanctions imposed by the United States on Iraqi banks.

The parliamentary Financial Committee stated, "The US Treasury Department continues to justify its sanctions against Iraqi banks under the pretext of money laundering, necessitating a national stance to put an end to these arbitrary decisions." The committee pointed out that "imposing sanctions on Iraqi banks undermines and obstructs the steps taken by the Central Bank (CBI) to stabilize the exchange rate of the dollar and reduce the gap between the official and parallel market rates."

The committee reiterated its "rejection of these practices due to their repercussions on the livelihoods of our citizens," renewing its "call on the Iraqi government and CBI to take swift measures to reduce reliance on the dollar by diversifying our foreign currency reserves."

The committee proposed "compelling the Ministry of Oil to sell Iraqi oil in other foreign currencies."

Earlier, the United States imposed sanctions on several Iraqi individuals linked to armed factions, in addition to sanctions on the Iraqi airline Fly Baghdad. Sanctions were also imposed on Al-Huda Bank and its owner, Hamad al-Mousawi.