Due to the suspension of bank transfers between Baghdad and Tehran, Iraq has moved towards Saudi Arabia and Kuwait

Due to the suspension of bank transfers between Baghdad and Tehran, Iraq has moved towards Saudi Arabia and Kuwait



09-08-2018 03:10 PM

The Euphrates -

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The Iraqi government is seeking to import electricity and daily goods from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait over sanctions imposed on Iran, which has an annual trade volume of about 10 billion dollars, Between Baghdad and Tehran has stopped.

The newspaper said in its report that 'bank transfers between Iraqi and Iranian banks stopped, and paralyzed the trade movement because of the sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran'.

"These sanctions have led the Iraqi government to move towards the Gulf markets to meet the need for energy and consumer goods, in order to avoid any negative repercussions in the domestic markets."

The newspaper pointed out that "the volume of trade exchange between Baghdad and Tehran reached over the past years to more than ten billion dollars annually."

Noting that 'the Iraqi government continues, currently, unannounced consultations with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to supply electricity and commercial goods important to the country'.

The newspaper quoted the appearance of Mohammed Saleh, economic adviser to the outgoing Prime Minister Haider Abadi, that 'the Iraqi government began looking for alternative sources of Iranian energy due to economic sanctions imposed by the United States of America on Iran,' indicating that these alternatives' will reduce the extent of damage caused by Economic sanctions on Tehran in the Iraqi market '.

US President Donald Trump has imposed new and comprehensive sanctions on Iran after withdrawing from its nuclear deal in 2015 to force Tehran to agree to a new deal aimed at halting its nuclear work.

The US Treasury has sent a letter to the Central Bank of Iraq obliges Iraqi banks to stop their dealings with banks and banks of Iran threatened to 'freeze the assets of the bank and put it on the black list in case of violation instructions issued by the US Treasury'.

"The government is moving towards the Gulf countries, particularly Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, to compensate for its energy needs, while relying on the development of the gas and electricity industry locally," the report quoted Saleh as saying. "Consultations with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are continuing and will not stop."

The newspaper said that 'Prime Minister Haider Abadi earlier commissioned the Minister of Electricity Qassim Fahdawi and the advanced cadres of the ministry to go immediately to Saudi Arabia to sign a memorandum of cooperation in the field of energy after the suspension of the Iranian line carrier of electric power to work, but withdrew the hand of Fahdawi before his visit Saudi'.

"The American sanctions imposed on Iran will be reflected negatively on the volume of commercial activity between Tehran and Baghdad," he said, stressing that 'stop financial transfers between the two countries'.

US sanctions, according to the report, are aimed at Iran's exports in the transport sector as well as its commercial activities, purchases of gold and other basic minerals, and the Iranian government's acquisition or acquisition of the US dollar. The sanctions have been in effect since early Tuesday.

"Iran is the largest exporter of daily consumer goods to Iraq, as well as the import and assembly of Iranian cars, where the number of workers in car assembly plants about 5000 Iraqi workers," noting that "the number of Iranian visitors to the holy places up to three million visitors in One year ', as the Iranian currency continues to decline against the US dollar with the rapid rise in the prices of gold coins.

In contrast, the Chairman of the Economic Committee in the former House of Representatives Jawad al-Bolani, the Iraqi government's commitment to implement the economic sanctions against Tehran, stressing that 'part of the trade exchange between the two countries necessitates the sustainability of the requirements of Iraq daily.'

"The daily requirements that Iraq needs after the cessation of its factories and laboratories are known to the international community, which requires the Iraqi government to secure them," the report quoted Bolani as saying that the Iraqi government is "to create a balance in dealing with international sanctions."

"Iraq is against international sanctions, and there is an experiment in Iraq that has weakened the country and the people," Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said at his weekly conference on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. "We do not support the sanctions because they are a strategic mistake, but we are forced to respect them."

"The daily trade exchange with Iran on the level of goods and consumer goods, such as milk and others, reaches 10 million dollars a day," he said, adding that "the annual trade volume of consumer goods, equipment, cars, oil, gas and electricity reaches more than 10 billion dollars a year" .

And confirms that 'there are funds owed by the Iraqi government due to pay to Iran because of the electricity bills and gas access to power stations in Iraq,' pointing out that 'zeroing of these funds need a way to lead to payment in light of the existence of these sanctions'.

"The low volume of trade exchange between Iraq and Iran depends on the handling of Iraqi state institutions and their commitment to economic sanctions imposed by Washington, which requires the Council of Ministers to develop a vision to deal with US actions.

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