US to determine if it will continue offering oil waivers for Iran sanctions next month
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Amid sanctions targetting Iran, the United States will re-examine oil waivers for eight countries in May which could affect Iraq, said State Department Secretary Mike Pompeo on Wednesday, a day following Washington designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.
“Next month,” the United States will make a determination, he testified to Congress.
"We've been clear on getting Iran to zero just as quickly as we possibly can and we will continue to do that,” he added.
In March, the United States extended a 90-day waiver to allow Iraq to electricity and natural gas from Iran.
"It's unquestionable that we have been tough with waivers," said Pompeo, adding that they had no new announcements to make relevant to sanctions’ waivers.
Iran and Iraq’s oil ministers agreed this week to take joint steps towards developing Iraqi oil fields. Iraq has aging oil and energy infrastructure and is forced to purchase electricity from Iran, especially during peak consumption in the summer.
On Tuesday, PM Adil Abdul-Mahdi revealed that Iraq had tried to persuade the United States not to designate the IRGC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).
"This was an easy decision. We are reflecting reality. I'm happy that we were able to announce that decision yesterday,” said Pompeo.
Pompeo reiterated that the IRGC and its branches have killed at least 600 Americans.
"The number is probably higher than that. They continue to engage in terror around the world including assassinations campaigns in Europe and the West,” he said.
Designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization denies “them the resources to conduct their terror campaign around the world.”
Pompeo also touched on how entrenched the IRGC is within the Iranian economy.
"The IRGC has another component, which is what I will call the kleptocracy component — it runs a significant piece of the Iranian economy,” he said. “The numbers vary, but I've seen numbers as high as 20- or 25-percent of the Iranian economy has resources that transfer to the IRGC itself.
"If I were the counsel of an Asian bank or a European bank, your world changed when that designation came out yesterday.”