Iraq News Now

Iraq is trying hard to dissociate itself from the rising

hostilities between Iran and the United States, as it hopes to preserve its

national interests without aligning with either axis in the conflict, Al

Monitor reported on Tuesday.
Following his recent visit to Iran, Iraqi Prime Minster Adel Abdul

Mahdi announced April 9 that he will soon visit Saudi

Arabia to sign economic and security agreements, as Iraq has done with

Jordan and Iran. A high-ranking Saudi delegation visited Iraq last week and

signed several agreements, including ones involving electricity imports to Iraq

and the construction of a large stadium.
Iraq depends on Iran for a large portion of its

electricity supply. The United States has warned Iraq several times

to cut its electricity imports from Iran. Previously, Washington granted a

short-term waiver to Iraq exempting it from US sanctions

and allowing it to import electricity and gas from Iran. The waiver

was extended a few times, but as US rhetoric against Tehran intensifies,

Washington's tolerance with Baghdad's imports won't last forever.
Iraq has realized that US tolerance regarding electricity imports

is limited, and thus has attempted to find alternate electricity

sources in the region. Iraqi parliamentary speaker Mohammed

al-Halbusi traveled to Kuwait in February and discussed the possibility of importing

electricity to Iraq. In another meeting with the Kuwaiti ambassador

in Baghdad, Salem Ghassab al-Zamanan, Halbusi thanked the Kuwaiti

government for its efforts to improve the situation in Basra, particularly in

the fields of electricity and water. Iraq is also considering importing

electricity from Saudi Arabia.
Washington is tightening the noose on Iranians in Iraq and

the region. It recently added the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to

its list of foreign terrorist organizations. This will affect the Iraqi

Shiite militias that are working under IMIS, as they are in direct contact with

the IRGC and Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani.
The US charge d’affaires in

Baghdad Joey Hood warned the Iraqi militias receiving support from

the IRGC that the impact of US actions against Iran will affect them as well.

“It is not normal for a Revolutionary Guard to be coming into another country

and doing things without coordination with that government and trying to

destabilize it, and weaken the sovereignty of that government,” Hood said.
He added that if they stand

with Iran, they will lose their relationship with the United States. “This

designation makes it clearer and clearer that people can have a relationship

with the problematic parts of the Iranian government, like the IRGC, or they

can have a relationship with the United States and our financial system, but

they cannot do both at the same time," he said.
Meanwhile, a group of Iran-backed

Shiite militias slammed the United States on April 13 for

adding the IRGC to the terrorist list. “We reject this action from

America and say we have honor to be in the Islamic resistance that fought and

beat terrorism,” a spokesman for the Fateh coalition, which is made

up of IMIS factions, said in a statement from the home of Iran's

consul general in the city of Najaf.
Abdul Mahdi seeks to

maintain balance between the conflicting parties and avoid Iraq becoming a

battleground between Iran and the United States.
As Iraq keeps its

relationship with Iran at the highest level, Iraq-Saudi ties are growing

rapidly. The Iraqi Council of Ministers approved April 9 a Saudi request

to open a consulate in Najaf.
In his recent trip to

Tehran, Abdul Mahdi made clear that Iran wouldn't dictate their

demands to Iraq. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei urged Iraq to demand that

US troops leave the country “as soon as possible." Abdul Mahdi, according

to a statement issued by his office, replied, “Iraq rejects being a

part of regional and international axes. Iraq wants to keep its good

relationship with all without being a part of an axis against the other."
In his five-day trip to

Washington last Month, parliamentary speaker Halbusi said US military

support is vital in combating terror groups. "The continuation of US

support to eliminate the remaining sleeper cells and extremist ideologies are

vital to ensuring that ISIS resurgence is contained," he said.
Abdul Mahdi refused to

pay its gas and electricity fees in US dollars or euros to Iran,

as Iran had requested during Abdul Mahdi's trip to Tehran. He also

informed officials in Tehran that the project to connect Iran's railway to

Syria through Iraq should be under Iraqi supervision and should not include

transferring arms or selling Iran’s oil in a way that violates US

sanctions.
Iraq is trying to maintain

impartiality in the intensifying conflict between Iran and the United States. However,

questions remain: Will Iraq's efforts successfully curb Iran's

influence in the country? Or will Iraq eventually be turned

into a battleground between the two parties?