Iraq says US cash shipments have resumed

The United States has resumed cash shipments to Iraq after a delay, Iraqi government spokesperson Haidar al-Aboudi said Thursday.

Aboudi told AFP the shipments “have resumed some time ago” and described the resumption as a positive indicator ahead of Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s expected visit to Washington later this month.

Iraq’s oil export revenues are largely held at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York under an arrangement reached after the 2003 US-led invasion. Oil payments are made into dollar-denominated US accounts, then used to pay for imports or sent to Iraq as cash.

Earlier this year, Washington suspended the cash transfers as it increased pressure on Baghdad to disarm Iran-backed armed groups, which launched hundreds of attacks on US facilities in Iraq during the Middle East war. Iraqi officials said the shipments had stopped because of airspace closures and the security situation.

Aboudi said Zaidi’s top priority in Washington would be economic partnership with the United States. In May, a senior US State Department official said Washington was looking for “concrete actions” from Zaidi to distance the state from pro-Iran armed groups before resuming cash shipments and security aid.