Report says US blocked $500 mn cash shipment to Iraq over pro-Iran attacks

Washington: The United States blocked a plane carrying nearly $500 million in banknotes from delivering the cash to Iraq, US media reported on Tuesday, piling pressure on Baghdad to fight Iran-backed militant groups.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Washington has suspended cash shipments to Iraq and frozen funding for security programs following attacks on US interests in the country by groups showing solidarity with Iran.

Iraq has long walked a tightrope between the competing influences of its allies, neighboring Iran and the United States.

However, Iraqi leaders have struggled to maintain that delicate balance as war engulfs the Middle East.

An Iraqi security official confirmed to AFP that the United States has suspended its security cooperation with Iraq over factions targeting US interests.

The US State Department said this month it had summoned Iraq's ambassador to Washington to express "strong condemnation" of attacks by pro-Iran groups on US interests, "including the April 8 ambush of US diplomats in Baghdad".

The US embassy in Baghdad and a logistical and diplomatic centre inside the city's airport have been repeatedly targeted by rockets and drones, with most intercepted, since the war broke out on February 28.

Missile and rocket attacks also targeted the US consulate in Erbil in Iraq's northern Kurdistan region, as well as the city's airport, where US-led anti-jihadist coalition troops are deployed.

- Counter-terror training -

The Wall Street Journal reported that the US Treasury Department blocked a shipment of nearly $500 million in cash from Iraqi oil sales, quoting US and Iraqi officials.

AFP has contacted the Treasury Department for comment.

The United States has leverage over Iraq because the country's oil export revenue is largely held at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, under an arrangement reached after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

The Wall Street Journal quoted unidentified US officials as saying that the suspension of cash shipments was temporary.

The Central Bank of Iraq has not commented specifically about the reports.

However, it said on Tuesday it was not lacking US dollars and that it had "fulfilled all requests from banks and exchange companies for US dollars, which are intended for pilgrims, travelers and foreign transfers."

The funding freeze to security programs includes training for Iraq's army and counter-terror efforts against the Islamic State group, The New York Times reported.

Fighting IS jihadists is a key part of Washington's military cooperation with Iraq, after the group swept across Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014.

Iranian commander Esmail Qaani arrived in Baghdad on Saturday for meetings with political leaders and commanders of armed factions, a senior Iraqi official said, aiming to "address regional de-escalation and its impact on Iraq".

Pro-Iranian armed groups announced on April 8 that they would suspend their attacks for two weeks, following the announcement of a ceasefire between the United States and Iran.