SOMO: US sanctions do not target Iraq’s oil exports
SOMO: US sanctions do not target Iraq’s oil exports
2025-09-07 03:38
Shafaq News – Baghdad
The Director General of the Iraqi Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), Ali Nizar al-Shatri, stated on Sunday that the oil sanctions imposed by the United States do not target the country’s crude exports “neither directly nor remotely.”
In early July, the US Treasury Department announced sanctions against a network smuggling Iranian oil under the guise of Iraqi law, confirming that the network is run by Iraqi businessman Salim Ahmed Saeed.
In response, Al-Shatri told Shafaq News Agency that the sanctions issued by the US Treasury Department do not concern ports and oil exports, but rather relate to individuals who own private companies and relevant tankers. These have nothing to do with the work of the Oil Marketing Company, neither directly nor indirectly.
He added, “We are committed to all instructions and decisions to protect Iraqi resources.”
The US Treasury Department stated in a statement at the time that “a network of companies run by Iraqi businessman Salim Ahmed Saeed has been purchasing and shipping billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil, disguised or blended with Iraqi oil, since at least 2020.”
“Treasury will continue to target Tehran’s sources of revenue and intensify economic pressure to disrupt the regime’s access to the financial resources that fuel its destabilizing activities,” Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said in the statement.
The US Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on several vessels accused of being involved in secretly delivering Iranian oil, intensifying pressure on what it called Iran’s “shadow fleet.”
Earlier, the Iraqi Oil Minister stated in a televised interview that Iran had forged oil tanker documents, using Iraq’s name to export oil. He asserted that the Iraqi government had informed Washington that it was not responsible for these shipments and that the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) was monitoring all its tankers via satellite.
shafaq.com
