By John Lee. The US Treasury Department has sanctioned Iraq's Al-Huda Bank, and its owner and Chairman, Hamad al-Moussawi. On Monday, the Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said the bank, "serves as a conduit for terrorist financing, as a foreign financial institution of primary money laundering concern." Along with its finding, FinCEN proposed imposing […]
By John Lee. Iraqi budget airline Fly Baghdad has suspended operations until further notice, following the imposition of sanctions by the United States earlier this week. It said the move was in compliance with a decision of the Iraqi government. The airline added that due to the freezing of its bank accounts, it is unable […]
By John Lee. The United States has imposed sanctions on the Iraqi airline Fly Baghdad, and on its CEO, Basheer Abdulkadhim Alwan al-Shabbani. In a statement on Monday, the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said the airline, "provid[ed] assistance to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and its proxy […]
By Ahmed Tabaqchali, Chief Strategist of Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) Iraq Fund, for the London School of Economics (LSE) Middle East Centre. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The Dinar, and the Conundrum over the Dollar and Iran A report in a […]
By David S Cloud, for the Wall Street Journal. Any opinions expressed are those of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraq Cracks Down on Dollar Smuggling Under Pressure From U.S. Washington aims to stop the flow of dollars to Iran. Click here to read the full article […]
From Middle East Monitor, under a Creative Commons licence. Any opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on Tuesday signed a new national security waiver letting Iraq pay Iran for electricity that, for the first time, allows such […]
By John Lee. The US has reportedly barred 14 Iraqi banks from conducting dollar transactions, as part of a crackdown on illegal transfers of dollars to Iran and other sanctioned countries. According to the Wall Street Journal, the banks include Al Mustashar Islamic Bank, Erbil Bank, World Islamic Bank, Zain Iraq Islamic Bank and Al […]
By Noam Raydan for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Any opinions expressed are those of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraq's Power Problem (Part 1): Persistent Financial and Technical Challenges Diversifying Iraq's energy supplies won't mean much if its power infrastructure is not rehabilitated, and […]
From Rudaw. Any opinions expressed are those of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraq, Iran oil-gas swap deal to continue until end of 2023 Iran has resumed the supply of natural gas to Iraq nearly two weeks after it had cut down its exports to the neighboring […]
By John Lee. In an effort to address the electricity crisis and overcome financing and sanctions-related challenges, Iraq and Iran signed an agreement on Tuesday in Baghdad, involving the exchange of Iranian-imported gas for Iraqi oil. Representing the Iraqi side, Mr. Ihsan Yaseen Al-Awadi, Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, signed the agreement, while […]
From Tasnim, under Creative Commons licence. Any opinions expressed are those of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. An Iranian official confirmed that the Iraqi government has released all of Tehran's frozen assets, amounting to $10 billion worth of energy debts. The funds have been deposited into an […]
By John Lee. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller (pictured) has explained the background to Iraq's payment of its debt to Iran, despite the sanctions that are in place with regard to Iran. At a press briefing, he was asked: "Iraqi electricity ministry, they told the state media that Iraq has paid off all the […]
