Manar Al-Obaidi, an expert on Iraqi economy, posed a series of questions regarding the dossier containing American sanctions imposed on numerous Iraqi banks. He pointed out that Baghdad is not the only entity dealing with Iranian trade; other parties involved include the UAE, Malaysia, certain British banks, and other economic entities. He also recommended that Iraq bring in foreign advisors to engage in talks with Washington regarding a matter whose implications seem to be substantial.
The United States’ sanctions against Iraqi banks are founded in “suspicion,” and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is required.a specialist in banking
Manar Al-Obaidi, in an interview with journalist Ahmed Al-Tayeb,
One issue that is always worth asking is: Why does the US impose sanctions on banks in Iraq? It is indeed the case that many of the nations around Iraq and its neighbors do not follow the sanctions.
The $17 billion in commerce between Iran and the United Arab Emirates serves as the clearest proof of this. A total of $29 billion worth of Iranian oil is also sold to Malaysia before being sent to China.
Two days ago, the renowned Financial Times newspaper published an article discussing how two British banks were enabling money transfers to Iran. This indicates that the globe is not entirely under control, and Iraq is not the only country that is not abiding by the rules.
The political interactions with the American side are lacking. The character of the relationship with Iraq is unknown to the Americans. They claim to be against us at times and to be with us at others.
Nowadays, every nation in the world has economic ties to Iran. Therefore, I believe that the issue with Iraq is the absence of an organization that represents the Iraqi perspective apart from the American side. Why doesn’t the US impose sanctions on these nations simply because they have businessmen leading their lobbying efforts on the grounds of shared interests? the side of government. The sole avenue of communication between the American and Iraqi parties is through official channels.
I disagree that there are no reliable banks in Iraq. Undoubtedly, there exist reliable banks as well as institutions that are unworthy of the term bank. However, the issue with banks generally is that they failed to hire foreign advisers who might have sat down with the US Treasury and Federal Reserve to explain the nature of the sanctions imposed; in fact, several banks are still unaware of the reason they were punished.
The sanctioned banks themselves were not the only ones affected by the penalties. Instead, not even the banks that are not subject to penalties are aware of the precautions they should take to safeguard themselves against them. Here, the banking industry has to assemble a group of foreign advisors who have connections to the Treasury and the Fed that go beyond the concept of government liaison, rather than merely passing the buck to the government.
