US “warning message” to Baghdad.. 10 PMF leaders and companies on sanctions list
US “warning message” to Baghdad.. 10 PMF leaders and companies on sanctions list
2025-02-25
Shafaq News/ An informed political source revealed, on Monday, the efforts made by the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs to prevent the issuance of US sanctions against Iraq, including companies and names of leaders in the Popular Mobilization Authority.
The source told Shafaq News Agency, requesting that his name not be mentioned, that “US sanctions may be issued soon and will include a list of names of political figures who have armed factions.”
He explained that “the list includes more than ten names, some of whom are leaders of the Popular Mobilization Forces and others who are well-known and have partnerships with important political forces,” explaining that “the situation with the United States may escalate, and the goal is to control the movement of money in Iraq and to limit and weaken what the American administration calls Iran’s arms and to stop supplying Tehran with hard currency through intermediaries.”
The source pointed out that “there are three financial companies and three transportation companies, all of which operate within the Iraqi oil fleet, and they will also be on the blacklist, in order to pressure and stop the smuggling of currency and oil towards Iran.”
On the 16th of this month, a responsible Iraqi government source revealed to Shafaq News Agency that the Iraqi government agencies had received an official notification imposing US sanctions on five new Iraqi banks, for their involvement in illegal financial transfer operations inside and outside Iraq.
The source indicated at the time that Iraq had also received a report that an American decision had been issued to ban the use of all electronic payment cards abroad, during the next two months, as a step to prevent the smuggling of currency abroad via those cards after suspicious financial movements were monitored by the American team specializing in monitoring financial movements inside Iraq.
Observers believe that the US sanctions on Iran will affect Iraq, which is one of the most important economic gateways for Iran, but the aim of these sanctions may be to push Iran to the negotiating table rather than to exacerbate the situation.
The latest of these sanctions is Trump’s cancellation of the exemption granted to Iraq to import electricity and gas from Iran, as part of the new package of sanctions on Tehran.
The US State Department announced today, Monday, the sanctioning of 16 entities and ships for their involvement in the Iranian oil and petrochemical industry.
The State Department and the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control also simultaneously imposed sanctions on 22 individuals and designated 13 vessels as blocked property for their involvement in Iran’s oil industry.
shafaq.com
