A trip to Washington.. What did the Iraqi delegation achieve by visiting America?

[size=33]A trip to Washington.. What did the Iraqi delegation achieve by visiting America?[/size]

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Ahmed Al-Dabbagh
2/17/2023
Baghdad - Many questions are being raised about what the Iraqi delegation, headed by Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, went to the United States of America, accompanied by a high-ranking delegation that included the governor of the Central Bank and many officials.
The visit, which the Iraqi delegation began on the ninth of February, lasted more than 6 days and was marred by a lot of ambiguity, especially since the American Middle East Institute made it clear in a report that the administration of US President Joe Biden pressured the Iraqi delegation that visited Washington to push Baghdad towards Redirecting the Iraqi energy sector away from Iran, and dealing with accusations against the Iraqi banking sector that it is helping the Iranian regime to evade Western sanctions.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]The Iraqi Central Bank announced a few days ago the adjustment of the exchange rate of the dollar against the dinar to control the exchange rate in parallel markets (Al-Jazeera Net)

Mysterious visit

About 3 months ago, Iraq witnessed a significant rise in the exchange rate of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar in the parallel markets, which prompted the Iraqi government to officially reduce the exchange rate of the dollar from 1460 to 1310 dinars per dollar to control the economic situation and avoid popular protests, which appears to be the Iraqi government It did not fully succeed in it, especially since the exchange rate of the dollar in the parallel markets is still around 1,530 dinars per dollar.
The ambiguity of the Iraqi delegation's visit to Washington was exacerbated by the press conference held by Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein with his American counterpart Anthony Blinken, where the two parties in Washington talked about the importance of continuing the American-Iraqi relationship at all levels without going into details.








مدة الفيديو 01 minutes 31 seconds


While the statement of the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred to the Iraqi minister's emphasis during the conference on the need to strengthen bilateral relations and joint coordination, as he said, "During the meeting, common views were exchanged on the most important issues related to bilateral relations, and the Iraqi foreign minister praised the United States' support for Iraq."
Yesterday, Wednesday, the Iraqi and American governments issued a joint statement of the US-Iraqi Higher Coordination Committee, which included a number of agreements and understandings, in which it stated that the Iraqi Foreign Minister and his American counterpart chaired a meeting of the Higher Coordination Committee, in accordance with the strategic framework agreement for the relationship of friendship and cooperation between the two countries signed in 2008. .


The statement touched on the support provided by Washington to Baghdad with regard to the financial and banking sectors, combating money laundering, climate change, Baghdad's relationship with the Gulf countries, and electrical interconnection, without addressing the details of the talks that brought the two parties together regarding the conditions of the US Federal Reserve and the application of the Swift system.
According to a report published by the American Middle East Institute, the Iraqi government was betting that Fouad Hussein and the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Ali Al-Alaq, would be able to persuade the US administration to freeze or postpone the restrictions imposed by the US Federal Reserve on dollar transfers to Iraq, then the report returned and confirmed that Washington had not No promises are made in this regard.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Al-Shammari: The Iraqi delegation was unable to persuade Washington to stop the electronic platform of the Central Bank of Iraq (Al-Jazeera Net)

behind the scenes

It seems that the Iraqi delegation was unable to persuade the United States to stop the electronic platform of the Central Bank of Iraq or to postpone its work, according to what was revealed by the head of the Center for Political Thinking, Ihsan Al-Shammari, to Al-Jazeera Net.
Al-Shammari added that the United States informed the Iraqi delegation that it is ready to cooperate with Baghdad regarding the mechanisms of implementing the electronic platform and delivering the dollar to Iraq according to documents proving the end user of the American currency, in line with the “Swift” system, in addition to the need for the Iraqi government not to contribute to handing over the dollar to the Iraqis subject to it. to US sanctions.
The Iraqi-American talks did not stop at this point, according to Al-Shammari, who said that Washington discussed with the Iraqi delegation many issues related to the strategic framework agreement, and stressed the need to remove tension between Baghdad and the Kurdistan region and settle the oil and gas files between them, attributing the reason for the long stay of the delegation Iraqi in Washington for the thorny files that were discussed.
It is clear from the ambiguity that accompanied the Iraqi delegation's visit to Washington that there are recommendations for the Iraqi delegation to follow what is described as "media silence" and not to reveal the scenes of what was discussed behind closed doors, according to political researcher Raad Hashem.


Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, Hashem explained that the Iraqi delegation discussed the economic and financial situation with regard to the dollar and the understandings with the US Treasury and the US Federal Reserve, explaining that "there may be a very specific deadline, not exceeding 3 months, for Iraq in order to prevent the smuggling of the dollar to all of Iran." And Syria, Lebanon and Russia, in return for facilitating the supply of dollars to Iraq, while the electronic platform and the Swift system remain in operation without returning to the old system in the currency auction at all.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Ghanem Al-Abed: Washington will determine the extent of its satisfaction with the Iraqi government by inviting the Sudanese or not (Al-Jazeera Net)

American complacency

In the midst of the talk about the Iraqi delegation's visit to the United States, many Iraqi circles are wondering about the extent of American satisfaction with the Iraqi government headed by Muhammad Shia'a al-Sudani, who assumed his duties at the end of last October.
This question is answered by the researcher at the Roaa Institute for Studies, Ghanem Al-Abed, who explained that the United States did not give any hope to Baghdad to postpone work on the electronic platform in exchange for promises to support the Iraqi government in its relations with Jordan and the Gulf countries, indicating that this support will be according to conditions, and otherwise support will not continue. Washington to the Sudanese government, as he put it.
As for Al-Sudani's visit to Washington, which was long talked about, Al-Abed believes - in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net - that it is not known until this moment whether Al-Sudani will visit Washington soon or not, indicating that this visit will be the criterion for knowing the extent of American satisfaction, and that knowledge of this needs For more time, which may not exceed one month only, he said.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Al-Mashhadani saw that Washington's imposition of the Swift system is an opportunity for Baghdad to control dollar smuggling (Al-Jazeera Net)

Iraqi opportunity

On the other hand, Professor of Economics at the Iraqi University in Baghdad, Abd al-Rahman al-Mashhadani, considered that Washington's imposition of implementing the Swift system on Iraq is an opportunity for the Iraqi government to control the file of dollar smuggling outside the country, which previous Iraqi governments did not succeed in.
In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Mashhadani revealed that the Iraqi delegation did not intend to ask Washington to postpone work on the electronic platform, knowing that this was impossible, and that what happened with the US Treasury and the Federal Bank does not go beyond how to organize cash payments, monitoring and auditing, and how the Federal Reserve helps the Iraqi Central Bank to achieve stability. Cash inside Iraq, leaving the determination of the exchange rate for the dollar in the custody of the Iraqi government, which undertakes the tasks of controlling the exchange rate and determining the value of the Iraqi currency.
Economically, Al-Mashhadani says, "The currency auction sales at the Central Bank of Iraq are now proceeding according to the normal situation, and that the continued reduction of the cash sale of the dollar will dry up the sources of smuggling, although it will lead to an increase in the exchange rate of the dollar in the parallel markets, taking into account that smuggling is still continuing in cash through Iraqi borders with neighboring countries.


Al-Mashhadani holds the Central Bank and Iraqi governments responsible for the monetary situation related to the dollar, especially since the US Federal Reserve had informed Baghdad about the necessity of working on the electronic platform about two years ago.
Attempts by the Al-Jazeera Net correspondent to communicate with officials of the Central Bank and the Iraqi government to comment on the visit and the understandings that resulted in it did not succeed.
Source : Al Jazeera
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Good article Rocky! 

“ It seems that the Iraqi delegation was unable to persuade the United States to stop the electronic platform of the Central Bank of Iraq or to postpone its work,”


Iraq simply cannot control the smuggling of the dollar without the U.S.’s intervention. When we see America lift these controls, I believe we can begin to really get excited about our possibilities