Washington warned Baghdad that the presence of armed groups close to Tehran in Iraq’s future government could have severe economic consequences for the country.
Reuters news agency reported on Friday, January 23, citing four informed sources, that over the past two months the United States has warned senior Iraqi political officials that sanctions will be imposed on the Iraqi government if armed groups backed by the Iranian regime participate in the future government.
Accordingly, these sanctions are likely to target Iraq’s oil revenue flows, which are managed through the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
According to three Iraqi officials and one informed source, these warnings were conveyed by Joshua Harris, the chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, during repeated meetings and discussions with Iraqi officials and influential Shiite figures, including leaders of groups close to Tehran, through intermediaries.
Maximum pressure to contain Tehran in Baghdad
According to Reuters, this stance represents the strongest example of policies by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration aimed at reducing the influence of groups close to the Iranian regime in Iraq, a country that for years has balanced between its two main partners, the United States and Iran.
In response to Reuters’ questions, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said the United States supports Iraq’s sovereignty and sees no role for Iranian regime–backed militias that pursue destructive interests, fuel sectarian divisions, and spread terrorism in the region.
The U.S. official did not directly elaborate on potential sanctions.
Iraq: an economic lifeline for the Iranian regime
The Iranian regime views Iraq as a key element for sustaining its economic survival under sanctions and, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials, has in recent years used Baghdad’s banking system to circumvent financial restrictions.
U.S. administrations in recent years have sanctioned more than 12 Iraqi banks but have so far not halted the transfer of dollars from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to the Central Bank of Iraq.
Now, the threat to target this very source of revenue signals a shift in the level of pressure Washington is applying to prevent further Iranian regime influence in Iraq.
Linking developments in Iraq and Venezuela to the Iranian people’s national uprising
The increase in U.S. pressure on Iraq comes as nationwide protests in Iran and the bloody suppression of protesters have heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington.
Trump said on Thursday, January 22, referring to the large-scale deployment of U.S. military assets and the movement of a “large fleet” toward the Middle East, that developments in Iran are being closely monitored.
He also added that his previous warnings about possible military action played a role in halting executions in Iran, a claim rejected by Iranian regime officials.
A look into the background of Ali Shademani, commander of the IRGC Central Headquarters
Earlier, on October 19, 2025, in an interview with Fox News, Trump described the starting point of his administration’s confrontation with the Iranian regime as the killing of Qassem Soleimani, the former commander of the IRGC Quds Force.
He also once again defended the bombing of the Iranian regime’s nuclear facilities, calling it one of the most successful military operations by the U.S. armed forces, and said the destruction of nuclear capabilities ensured that the Iranian regime was no longer the “Middle East bully.”
