“Tidbits From TNT” Thursday Morning 10-5-2023

TNT:

Tishwash:    Iraq prohibits cash withdrawals in dollars in early January 2024 – urgent

 A senior official in the Central Bank of Iraq told Reuters, today, Thursday (October 5, 2023), that the country will ban cash withdrawals and transactions in dollars, starting from January 1, 2024, in the latest effort to limit the misuse of the country’s hard currency reserves in financial crimes. And evading US sanctions on Iran.

Mazen Ahmed, Director General of the Investment and Transfer Department at the Central Bank of Iraq, told Reuters that the aim of the step is to stop the illegal use of about 50 percent of the $10 billion cash amount that Iraq imports annually from the Federal Reserve Bank in New York.

This step comes as part of a broader campaign to stop the economy’s dependence on the dollar after residents began to prefer the US currency over the dinar.

Ahmed said that people who deposit dollars in banks before the end of 2023 will be able to withdraw money in dollars in 2024. But dollars deposited in 2024 can only be withdrawn in the local currency at the official rate of 1,320 dinars to the dollar  link

CandyKisses:  Dozens of owners of banking companies demonstrate in front of the Central Bank of Iraq

Shafaq News / Dozens of owners of banking companies organized, on Thursday morning, a demonstration in front of the Central Bank of Iraq in the center of the capital Baghdad, demanding the lifting of sanctions imposed on them for illegal financial transactions.

The correspondent of Shafaq News Agency said that about 80 people from the owners of banking companies gathered in the area of Rashid Street in front of the central bank building, calling on his administration to lift the administrative and financial sanctions imposed on them.

************

Tishwash:   In Baghdad… chaos in a foreign bank after it refused to hand over citizens’ money in dollars

Social media pioneers circulated a video clip of a citizen who was extremely upset after a foreign bank in Iraq refused to hand over to him his money that he had deposited in US dollars.

He delivered the amount equivalent to the Iraqi dinar and according to the official price he announcedCentral Bank of Iraq.

Those interacting with the video clip unanimously called on the Central Bank to reveal the facts to public opinion, whether the Central Bank had prevented banks from handing people their money in dollars, or whether the banks were “exploiting” people and “robbing” them under the pretext of the Central Bank’s instructions.  link 

Tishwash:  Iraq turns its back on the international coalition: We do not need you anymore and our forces are sufficient

The former Secretary-General of the Ministry of Peshmerga, Lieutenant General Jabbar Yawar, confirmed today, Thursday (October 5, 2023), that Iraq does not need international coalition combat forces, as the existing numbers in the Iraqi army, police, Hashd, and Peshmerga are sufficient.

Yawar said in an interview with “Baghdad Today”, “Iraq and the Kurdistan Region need the military, security and intelligence expertise of the international coalition to support the Iraqi security forces and the Peshmerga in training and logistical and technical support.”

He added, “Iraq needs its support in the field of developing air defenses, protecting and monitoring the airspace, and the fields of electronic warfare.”

Earlier, Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani said that Iraq does not need foreign combat forces, and revealed that advanced discussions were being held in order to determine the form of the future relationship and cooperation with the international coalition.

While the United States and Iraq renewed their commitment to strengthening security and military cooperation and protecting regional stability, at the conclusion of their joint security cooperation dialogue, which was held in the American capital, Washington.

A joint statement stated Iraq’s commitment to protecting American individuals, advisors, the international coalition, convoys, and diplomatic facilities, noting that cooperation between the two countries is mainly represented in the permanent defeat of Iraq’s leadership of ISIS.

Iraq had officially announced that the tasks of the American forces would become advisory on December 31, 2021, with a number not exceeding two thousand soldiers. These forces are located in three main locations in Iraq: the “Ain al-Assad” base, located 130 kilometers from the city of Ramadi, In the west of the country, and the “Harir” base, north of Erbil, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, in addition to Camp “Victoria”, adjacent to Baghdad Airport, where there is an intelligence task and analysis unit, in addition to the American embassy in central Baghdad. link

**************

Tishwash:  Iran.. Discovery of 4 new oil and gas fields

Today, Wednesday (October 4, 2023), Iranian Oil Minister Javad Oji revealed the exploration of four new oil and gas fields during ongoing operations throughout the country.

On the sidelines of the government delegation meeting, Jawad Oji reported that “four oil and gas fields were discovered with exploration operations that took place throughout the country,” adding: “The four oil and gas fields are the Cheshma Shor gas field in the northeast of the country in Khorasan Razavi province, and the Elkan oil fields in Golestan province, and the Tanko and Ganawa oil fields in Bushehr province.

Oji added: “We had a 78% replacement rate in the liquid hydrocarbons sector in the 13th government. This means that if 100 barrels of oil and gas condensates were produced for consumption or export, 78 barrels were replaced by new discoveries.”

He continued: “We also obtained an increase of more than 300% in conducting 3D seismic operations compared to the entire four years of the 12-year government.”

The Iranian Oil Minister continued: “Compared to countries in the region such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the Emirates, and Qatar, the Islamic Republic of Iran occupies first place in the field of exploration… and the success rate of exploration in Iran is 100 percent.”   link