US officials told Iraqi leaders Washington would starve Baghdad of oil revenue if it kept up economic links with Iran and would suspend ties if politicians deemed close to Iran became ministers, Reuters reported on Friday citing sources.
The warnings would mark a sharp uptick in rhetoric on Iraq by the administration of US President Donald Trump as it pursues its maximum pressure campaign of sanctions against its Mideast arch-nemesis Iran.
Citing three Iraqi officials and a source familiar with the matter, the news agency reported that US Charge d'Affaires in Baghdad Joshua Harris conveyed the warnings in conversations over the past two months with Iraqi officials from across its fractured political spectrum.
Iran relies closely on the banking sector its Western neighbor, where recent parliamentary polls kept Shi'ite Muslim parties in the ascendant and delivered gains for politicians from the kaleidoscope of militias and parties backed by Tehran.
The Islamic Republic's own economic lifeline of oil exports is under heavy pressure from US sanctions, even if export levels remain buoyant one year into Trump's second term, and Iraqi financial instruments help it skirt US curbs.
Following a 2003 US invasion, the United States has maintained de facto control over Iraqi oil revenues and its preponderant banking and financial puts the funds within its reach.
"The United States supports Iraqi sovereignty, and the sovereignty of every country in the region," Reuters quoted a US State Department spokesperson as saying in response to a request for comment. "That leaves absolutely no role for Iran-backed militias that pursue malign interests, cause sectarian division, and spread terrorism across the region."
US warnings also broached cutting off engagement with Baghdad if 58 members of parliament Washington views as linked to Iran are elevated by Prime Minister Shia al-Sudani to cabinet positions.
"The American line was basically that they would suspend engagement with the new government should any of those 58 MPs be represented in cabinet," Reuters quoted an Iraqi officials as saying.
"They said it meant they wouldn't deal with that government and would suspend dollar transfers," the source added.
Forming the new cabinet is due to take months and the US moves did not appear to be linked to a recent deadly crackdown on protestors in Iran, which resulted in new US sanctions on Iranian officials and oil shipping networks.
Machado said Iran and Venezuela were bound by deep cooperation between their rulers, even as people in both countries rise up against repression.
“The Iranian people, the Venezuelan people, we are fighting the same struggle,” she said. “These regimes have been cooperating for many years, exchanging resources, information, technology, agents and weapons.”
She said authoritarian governments help each other bypass pressure and maintain control, while democracies often stop at statements.
“Dictators help each other, they exchange technology, resources, they help each other bypass sanctions and they support each other in international forums,” Machado said. “Democratic governments stay at statements and declarations that at the end do not serve the people.”
Machado said people in Iran had reached a breaking point and were calling on the world to respond.
“We reach a point where the people start asking the world to react and to support,” she said. “What we are asking for is to stop the killings and to save lives.”
She criticized what she described as double standards among democratic governments that condemn repression while maintaining economic ties.
“You sign declarations talking about freedom and equality and respect for human rights, then you do business with these regimes,” Machado said. “You buy oil from these regimes and you keep their assets and resources in your own financial systems.”
Praise for Trump action
Machado praised Donald Trump for taking decisive action against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and said it showed what firm leadership could achieve.
“Finally in Venezuela we’re seeing President Trump making a tremendous important decision,” she said. “Bringing a criminal to justice is precisely what the world needs.”
She said the move sent a signal beyond Venezuela.
“It has brought a lot of hope,” Machado said. “This is a milestone.”
Machado said repression continues when dictators see little cost in using force.
“When you’re dealing with criminals, the only way they will leave is when the cost of staying in power is higher than the cost of leaving,” she said.
She said opposition movements cannot succeed alone without coordinated international pressure.
“We have done everything that any civic movement can do and they are killing us,” Machado said. “What we are asking for is applying law enforcement and cutting the resources they use to fund repression.”
Machado said the fall of Iran’s ruling system would have consequences far beyond the country.
“Imagine how the world will look once the Iranian criminal regime falls,” she said. “This is a unique moment in history.”
She said cooperation among opposition groups and diasporas was essential.
“These regimes help each other, and we the people need to connect and coordinate,” Machado said. “Regardless of how far away we are, we are united in this aspiration.”
