Khaberni - Bloomberg reported that Washington has informed Baghdad that it will reduce Iraq's oil revenues if Nouri al-Maliki is elected as Prime Minister.
Washington reaffirmed this stance during a meeting held last week in Turkey between the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Ali Al-Alak, and senior US officials, which threatens to destabilize this OPEC member country.
This comes in the context of President Donald Trump's push to curtail Iran's regional influence, where he posted a direct warning on social media against choosing Maliki, whom the United States sees as close to Tehran, while Maliki refuses to step down according to the same sources.
It is worth noting that Iraq held parliamentary elections last November, and the formation of the government coalition and the assignment of key positions, including the position of Prime Minister designated for the Shia, is still under deliberation without a clear timeline.
On his part, Maliki's spokesman, Hisham Al-Rikabi, told Bloomberg that Maliki "remains the candidate" with no change in this stance. Neither the White House nor the US State Department commented on the aforementioned warnings, nor did the deputy governor of the Central Bank and his assistant comment.
To understand the context of these warnings, it is important to note that Iraqi oil revenues, which account for about 90% of the state budget, are deposited in a special account at the Ministry of Finance at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York managed by the Central Bank of Iraq.
The United States established this arrangement after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 to protect revenues from legal claims against the former Saddam Hussein regime, and the account is used to fund public expenditures amounting to about $7 billion monthly, in addition to monthly cash transfers to Baghdad.
In response to American pressures, Iran urged its allies in Iraq to resist what it described as "Trump's bullying", where the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Ismail Qaani visited Baghdad last month carrying a message of support from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for Maliki's nomination, which irritated Washington.
The outgoing Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani, who took power in 2022 and has maintained balanced relations with Tehran and Washington, has recently sought to attract investments from major American oil companies such as Exxon Mobil and Chevron, and according to previous reports, is still hoping for a second term should Maliki fail to garner enough support.
