Discounted oil and customs exemptions… What did Jordan offer in return for Iraqi concessions?
Discounted oil and customs exemptions… What did Jordan offer in return for Iraqi concessions?
9-20-2026
Information / Report
While the Iraqi street faces accumulating economic and living challenges, the issue of oil and trade relations between Baghdad and Amman has resurfaced, sparking a massive wave of popular and political astonishment and condemnation.
The criticism centers on the insistence of successive governments on granting the Jordanian side extensive customs exemptions and major economic privileges, allowing it to obtain Iraqi oil at preferential prices that are almost free, without any tangible return that serves the Iraqi national interest. These questions take on more complex dimensions on the security and political levels.
Observers and political forces believe that it is unacceptable for these facilities to continue in favor of Amman, given its historical and political stances that have turned it into a refuge for many figures accused of conspiring against the political process in Iraq.
What exacerbates this intense resentment are the indications that spoke of involvement or participation in targeting the Popular Mobilization Forces formations, which makes the continuation of Iraqi economic support for Jordan a blatant contradiction that affects national sovereignty and the blood of the fighters.
Faced with this complex situation, voices have risen demanding that the relevant government authorities review these agreements immediately and apply the principle of reciprocity to protect the Iraqi economy.
The demands are directed towards abolishing all exceptions and privileges granted, and imposing full customs duties on all goods and commodities entering through the Jordanian borders without leniency, so that the Iraqi economy and sovereignty are the absolute priority above any diplomatic considerations.
In this context, MP Ahmed Al-Shammari expressed his extreme surprise at the continued granting of customs exemptions and economic facilities to Jordan, recalling its previous participation in targeting the Popular Mobilization Forces, and demanding that fees be imposed on all goods coming through Jordanian ports and that they be subjected to strict inspection and examination.
Al-Shammari told Al-Maalouma News Agency that “it is unacceptable for the economic privileges and customs exemptions granted to the Jordanian side to remain in light of its previous positions that witnessed involvement and participation in targeting the Popular Mobilization Forces,” indicating that “Amman benefits economically on a large scale through obtaining Iraqi oil at preferential prices that are almost free.”
He added that “the national interest requires reciprocity and the protection of the economy and sovereignty,” calling on the relevant government authorities to “cancel the exceptions and impose customs duties on all goods and commodities entering Iraq from the direction of Jordan without leniency.”
Al-Shammari stressed “the need to tighten inspection procedures and examine goods thoroughly at border crossings before allowing them to pass into Iraqi territory,” stressing that “this procedure is a supervisory duty to protect local markets and prevent any transgression that harms the security and economy of the country.”
For his part, a parliamentary source in the Legal Committee affirmed the ability of the House of Representatives to pressure the government to cancel the privileges that Iraq granted to Jordan.
The source, who asked not to be named, told Al-Maalomah news agency that “the concessions that Iraq granted to Jordan, especially oil at reduced prices, came about through a political agreement and not by law, and the government can cancel them at any time.”
He added, “The House of Representatives, in all its previous sessions, has not enacted a law obligating the government to grant Jordan or any other country privileges.” He clarified that “canceling privileges is a governmental matter, but the House of Representatives can exert pressure on the government through procedures that do not contradict the principle of separation of powers.”
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