2024-01-23T10:45:41+00:00
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/ Economic expert Nabil Al-Marsoumi described, on Tuesday, the sanctions imposed by the US Treasury on the “Fly Baghdad” airline company, as “an American economic warning to Iraq.”
Al-Marsoumi said in a statement received by Agency, “Both the President of the United States and Congress have the authority to issue sanctions, as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 allows the President to do so with great ease, and Washington has pushed the United Nations to impose sanctions on groups and people in 180 countries.”
He stated that the United States adopts four methods in its economic sanctions, which are:
1. Freezing: confiscating state assets located abroad and freezing the accounts of state institutions and individuals accused of involvement in making decisions that intersect with American interests.
2. Financial restrictions: Exclusion from the financial transfer system (SWIFT) for sending money around the world, which is used by several thousand financial institutions in more than 200 countries. This punishment was used before against Iran and Russia after its war against Ukraine.
3. Exclusion from dollar clearing: Prohibiting financial transactions involving the use of US dollars and penalizing any Western company that deals with state companies that are subject to punishment.
4. Preventing access to global debt markets: This is a measure that would deprive financing for the development of the economy, and the cost of borrowing in the country may rise, and the value of the national currency may decrease.
Al-Marsoumi pointed out that if military operations expand in Iraq, Iraq may be exposed to the following sanctions:
1. Stop delivering the dollar to Iraq, as American laws, such as the “Punishing America’s Enemies” law, allow it not to deliver the dollar to some countries, which will greatly reduce the exchange rate of the Iraqi dinar against the dollar. We may witness a major collapse of the Iraqi dinar, which will lead, as a result, to rampant inflation that will remind us of the blockade. America on Iraq. Iraq’s cash reserves in American banks may be frozen, and the matter may extend to large Iraqi investments in US Treasury bonds, which amount to about $34 billion.
2. Refraining from dealing with the Central Bank of Iraq, which leads to the world losing confidence in it and prompts them to stop dealing with the Central Bank of Iraq for technical reasons related to global monetary standards or for reasons related to the fear of imposing US sanctions on the party that dealt with the Central Bank of Iraq.
3. Imposing sanctions on Iraqi banks and money transfer companies, which confuses the economic situation and limits financing of foreign trade.
4. Preventing Iraq from using the financial transfer system (SWIFT), which is largely subject to American influence.
5. Stopping the lending and reconstruction programs and technical assistance provided by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to Iraq, as these two organizations are controlled by the United States.
6. Stop granting Iraq the exception to import gas and electricity from Iran, which will lead to the collapse of its electrical organization.
7. The potential US sanctions will greatly affect the oil sector, as the United States may stop its imports from Iraq, which amount to 400,000 barrels per day, and the sanctions may develop into imposing US sanctions on parties that buy Iraqi oil, which constitutes 93% of public revenues, in addition to the refusal of tankers. Foreign oil companies are prohibited from loading and transporting Iraqi oil to global markets for fear of being exposed to US sanctions, and insurance companies will do the same for Iraqi oil shipments heading abroad.
8. The negative impact on the investment environment in Iraq, represented by weakening investor confidence, especially with regard to companies operating in the field of oil, both American and foreign, which will have an impact on Iraq’s ability to produce and export and on oil field development projects, especially those related to associated gas investment, which Iraq relies on. In order to reduce its imports of gas, which is the only source of electricity generation in Iraq, as well as its negative effects on government economic programs in construction and reconstruction.
Yesterday, Monday, the US Treasury Department announced the inclusion of the Iraqi airline “Fly Baghdad” and its CEO, on the sanctions list, for providing assistance to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard “Quds Force” and its proxy groups in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.
The Treasury stated in a statement translated by Agency, “For several years, Fly Baghdad Company has supported the operations of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and its agents by delivering equipment and personnel throughout the region.”
She added, “The company’s flights delivered arms shipments to Damascus International Airport in Syria, for transfer to members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the Quds Force and Iranian-allied militias on the ground in Syria, including the Syrian Arab Republican Guard, the Lebanese Hezbollah, and the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades.” “.
According to the US Treasury, the “Fly Baghdad” company delivered a group of weapons to these groups operating in Syria, including Iranian-made Fatah, Zulfiqar, and Al-Fajr missiles, in addition to AK-47 and RPG-7 rifles, grenades, and other machine guns.
As a result, the Central Bank of Iraq began today, Tuesday, freezing the accounts of the “Fly Baghdad” air transport company.
An informed source told Agency, “The bank froze the company’s accounts in three major banks in response to US Treasury sanctions,” without giving further details.