US targets Iraq oil official and militias with sanctions for aiding Iran – Reuters

The U.S. imposed ​sanctions on Thursday on Iraq’s deputy oil minister and militias over ‌support for Iran, the Treasury Department said.

The Treasury Department accused Iraq’s deputy minister Ali Maarij Al-Bahadly of abusing “his position to facilitate the diversion of oil to be sold ​for the benefit of the Iranian regime and its proxy ​militias in Iraq.”

It said Maarij enabled an Iran-affiliated oil smuggler to ⁠mix Iranian oil with Iraqi oil before being shipped to global ​markets and falsified documents that helped Iranian-affiliated networks to sell the mix disguised ​as purely Iraqi oil. It said Maarij authorized trucking several million dollars’ worth of oil per day from Iraq’s Qayyarah oil field for export, helping Iranian networks.

Iraq’s oil ​ministry and the deputy minister did not immediately respond to requests for ​comment.

In March, Iraq’s oil minister, Hayan Abdel-Ghani, said Iranian oil tankers stopped by U.S. forces ‌in ⁠the Gulf were using forged Iraqi documents. Tehran denied using such documents.

The move to sanction the deputy minister comes as the U.S. and Iran edge toward a temporary agreement to halt the war, with Tehran reviewing a proposal that would ​stop the fighting ​but leave the ⁠most contentious issues unresolved

The U.S. Treasury is also sanctioning three senior leaders of Iran-aligned militias Kata’ib Sayyid Al-Shuhada and ​Asa’ib Ahl Al-Haq, it said.

“Treasury will not stand idly ​by as ⁠Iran’s military exploits Iraqi oil to fund terrorism against the United States and our partners,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

The sanctions freeze ⁠any ​U.S. assets of those targeted and generally bar ​Americans from dealing with them.