Iraqi MP: Iraq faces threat of more banks on US sanctions list

Shafaq News/ On Wednesday, Ikhlas Al-Dulaimi, a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, suggested that the US Treasury Department might include new Iraqi banks on the sanctions list unless the Central Bank of Iraq finds solutions.

Al-Dulaimi told Shafaq News Agency, "Last Sunday evening, I met with the US Treasury attaché in Baghdad and asked him about the reasons for freezing 24 Iraqi banks. He explained that most banks had transferred large sums of dollars to Iran and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard."

Al-Dulaimi added, "At present, there are no banks that may be subject to closure unless new violations occur, and some of the banks that were closed dealt with forged documents regarding money transfers."

She suggested that "if the situation remains as it is now and the Central Bank does not find solutions to the situation of these banks in the near future, we may witness another batch of banks being frozen and their dealings in dollars prohibited, and this will affect the economic situation in the country."

Last January, the US Treasury issued a finding and notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that identifies the Iraqi Al-Huda Bank as a "conduit for terrorist financing, as a foreign financial institution of primary money laundering concern."

The US also hit Iraqi airline Fly Baghdad and its CEO with sanctions, alleging assistance to Iran's military wing.

In the new sanctions announced, the US Treasury said Fly Baghdad and its CEO, Basheer Abdulkadhim Alwan al-Shabbani, have assisted Iran's military wing and its proxy groups in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.

In July 2023, Washington also barred 14 Iraqi banks from conducting dollar transactions for the same reasons.

Al Mustashar Islamic Bank, Erbil Bank, World Islamic Bank, and Zain Iraq Islamic Ban are among the banks.