Shafaq News/US Congress members have urged President Joe Biden to prevent Iraqi OilMinister Hayyan Abdul-Ghani from attending US events, citing allegations of hisinvolvement in sanctions evasion benefiting Iran. The congress membersrequested an investigation into Abdul-Ghani and other Iraqi officials overtheir potential role in diverting Iraqi oil revenues to support Iran's IslamicRevolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated "militias."
In a letterdated September 4, 2024, Congress members French Hill, Joe Wilson, MichaelWaltz, Michael V. Lawler, and Kevin Hern pressed Biden to investigate theallegations. They expressed concerns over reports indicating that Iraqi oilresources are being used to help fund Iranian-aligned groups and the IRGC,facilitating the evasion of US sanctions on Iranian oil.
"We arewriting concerning the impending visit of Hayyan Abdul-Ghani, the Minister ofOil from the Government of Iraq. There are multiple public reports allegingthat Abdul-Ghani and other officials in the Iraqi government are involved inindustrial-scale sanctions evasion on behalf of the regime in Iran. Given thesereports, we respectfully request that your administration prevent MinisterAbdul-Ghani from attending events in the United States until these allegationsare investigated and the findings are presented to Congress. Further, ifverified, we urge you to designate individuals and entities, asappropriate." The letter said.
Thelawmakers also expressed concerns by both public and private reports thatIraq's oil sector is being converted into "a powerful and endemic means bywhich Iran-Aligned Militia Groups (IAMGs) and Iran's Islamic RevolutionaryGuard Corps (IRGC) generate terrorist financing." quoting a recent reportby the Washington Institute of Near East Policy stating that "the scale ofthe operation is significant, estimated to net nearly $1 billion per year. Thisis enabling U.S.-designated terrorist entities to facilitate mass sanctionsevasion by allowing U.S.-sanctioned Iranian oil exports to reach the worldmarket labeled as Iraqi oil. Further, we are concerned that the scheme mayinclude the abuse of Iraq's access to the U.S. dollar through oil sales to giveIran illicit access to the dollar."
In addition,the letter expressed concerns that, "given the scale of the trade, seniorIraq officials and their families, including those in the Iraqi Ministry of Oiland the Iraqi Ministry of Industry and Minerals, may be directly involved. Thisincludes overseeing and profiting from corruption surrounding the allocation ofIraqi government fuel oil to companies owned or controlled by Asa'ib al-Haq(AAH), an Iranian-sponsored Iraqi organization that has been designated by theUnited States as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially DesignatedGlobal Terrorist. Other public reporting claims that Iraqi fuel has beendiverted from its intended industrial uses and instead smuggled onto theinternational market, benefiting the IRGC and Iran's proxies in Iraq."
"Anotherconcern is that the Government of Iraq may be facilitating Iran's sanctionsevasion by allowing Iranian crude to enter Iraq's offshore oil-loading areas,where it is mixed with Iraqi terrorist-smuggled oil and labeled as Iraqiproducts. This is another scheme that has been investigated by the BidenAdministration and has raised public concerns in the past. This schemeincreases the realized price of sanctioned Iranian crude to benefit Iran andthe IRGC. It is highly likely that officials in the Iraqi Prime Minister'sOffice, Iraqi Ministry of Oil, State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), andMinistry of Transport are aware of, and complicit in, this sanctions evasionmechanism. Finally, we are also deeply concerned that as part of these illicitoperations, Iran is using Iraq's general access to the dollar-denominated oiltrade to gain access for itself to U.S. dollars."
Based onthese reports, the five lawmakers requested that President Biden investigateand assess whether the Ministry of Oil, the State Organization for MarketingOil, the Oil Products Distribution Company, the General Company for the Portsof Iraq, the State Company for Mineral Industries, and any senior officials ofthose agencies, including Minister Abdul-Ghani, "have engaged insanctionable conduct or caused a U.S. person to violate sanctions, therebyengaging in prohibited conduct. Given the likely scale and timeframe of theseevasion schemes, it is likely that they have been developed or expanded duringthe tenure of Minister Abdul-Ghani, drawing on his knowledge and resources asthe former director of Basra Oil Company."
Further,they said they believe the United States must ensure that Iraq is "notallowing IAMGs to smuggle Iraqi oil or facilitating sanctions evasion assophisticated methods to service energy debts to Iran that avoid U.S. Treasuryrestrictions - something Iraqi Prime Minister Sudani has publicly stated hewill seek to do. This is occurring while the Iraq-Turkey pipeline remainsclosed, which the Iraq Oil Ministry refuses to reopen, directly impacting oilexports from the Kurdistan Region and over $5 billion in U.S. investment,including from the U.S. Development Finance Corporation."
The USCongress members pointed out that that a comprehensive review of theseallegations should include three critical assessments:
"First,an assessment of whether any of these individuals or entities have engaged inconduct that violates statutory Iran sanctions, such as the Iran Sanctions Act,and any of the regulations issued to enforce statutory sanctions and relevantexecutive orders."
"Second,an assessment of whether individuals or entities have engaged in sanctionableor criminal conduct related to terrorism sanctions, including violations ofExecutive Order 13224 (Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions WithPersons Who Commit, Threaten To Commit, or Support Terrorism) or statutesapplying criminal and civil penalties for providing material support toFTOs."
"Finally,it should include an assessment of whether violations of the recently passedStop Harboring Iranian Petroleum Act (SHIP Act) have taken place. The SHIP Act,which was included in the national security supplemental appropriationslegislation from April, mandates the imposition of sanctions against ports andport operators, refineries, and vessels that facilitate the trade incondensate, refined, or unrefined petroleum products, or other petrochemicalproducts originating from Iran. We request that you review the above-mentionedindividuals and entities in addition to the port and berth operators at Khor AlZubair Port and Umm Qasr Port as well as vessel management in Iraqi offshoreship-to-ship transfer areas and at offshore Single-Point Moorings, in additionto other relevant persons."
"Werespectfully request that you expedite consideration of this request andprovide us the determinations requested no later than September 30, 2024.Further, as this inquiry into Minister Abdul-Ghani's conduct is ongoing anduntil such determinations are made, we respectfully request that he no longerbe granted visas to the United States."