Al Mada reported that Iraq has slipped into the background for the Trump administration. That has led the U.S. to rely upon its usual mix of sanctions and threats against Baghdad as its only means to influence the country.
Al Mada ran a story that the Trump White House is no longer focused upon Iraq. Meetings on the nation have been dropped and Washington has told presidential envoy Tom Barrack who also covers Turkey and Syria that he is now in charge. The State Department also informed Congress that military aid to Iraq is being cut.
At the start of the administration members of the national security team were hoping that Iraq could be used as a tool against Tehran. With the Iran War going south however it appears the president simply wants a way out and Iraq has fallen to the wayside as a result.
That leaves U.S. policy towards Iraq on autopilot. America recently announced sanctions against nine Iraqis and two companies for ties to Iran and Kataib Hezbollah. It also warned that monthly dollar transfers to Baghdad could halt if the pro-Iran Resistance does not disarm on September 30. This is the same policy that Biden and the first Trump presidency followed. It relies solely on sticks with no offer of carrots to get Baghdad to comply.
Without the push from Washington there is little else the U.S. can do. For one there is no ambassador in Baghdad. This is because Trump likes to rely upon personal envoys to foreign countries and in this case Barrack has been far more involved with Syria and Turkey than Iraq from the start. That means there is no nuance to U.S. policy. It is just following what has been done before.
In comparison, Iran is intimately involved in Iraqi decision making. Iranian officials constantly visit and there are even Iranian representatives at meetings of the ruling Coordination Framework. This has led Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to give up on his plan to disarm the Resistance.
PM Zaidi would like better ties with the U.S. and has been courting American companies to invest in Iraq. However with the ruling coalition’s connection to Tehran, Iran’s constant lobbying, and the loss of interest by the Trump administration the premier has not been able to chart a new course.
SOURCES
Al Alam, “US Treasury Sanctions Sever the “Factions” Lifeline: Procurement Lines and Financial Networks Spanning Four Capitals,” 9/12/26
Iraqi News, “US sanctions Iraqi figures, including brothers of Muhsin al-Mandalawi,” 9/11/26
Kurdistan 24, “U.S. Warns Iraq: Disarm Militias by Sep. 30 or Dollar Transfers Stop,” 9/14/26
Al Mada, “Behind the Scenes of Backing Away from the “September 30” Deadline: Two Heated Weeks of Uninterrupted Visits from Tehran to Baghdad,” 8/26/26
- “Sanctions Loom Over Baghdad After Attacks on Saudi Arabia: Al-Zaidi Faces Test of Declaring State of Emergency,” 9/15/26
Salem, Amr, “US redirects millions in security assistance away from Iraq,” Iraqi News, 9/17/26
No comments:
Post a Comment