Three years ago, Iraq was on the brink of expelling US troops, but now, Prime Minister al-Sudani asserts that his nation needs US and NATO forces. Although he gives ISIS as the reason, the dollar crisis in the country seems to be a more plausible explanation. The political actors backing al-Sudani blame the United States for the crisis but having to handle this crisis shortly, al-Sudani sees the exit in reconciliation with Washington.
The political turmoil in Iraq after the elections in October 2021 resulted in al-Sudani taking the seat of Prime Minister as a candidate of the so-called Iran-backed Shiite alliance in October 2022. in his first US interview since taking office, al-Sudani said, “we need the foreign forces to eliminate ISIS.” “Iraq would like similar relations with Washington to what Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf oil-and-gas producers enjoy,” al-Sudani told WSJ, “we strive to “see Iraq have a good relationship with Iran and the US.” Stating, “President Biden is different from other presidents in that he knows the situation in Iraq completely,” al-Sudani thinks it might be the foundation to build an excellent relationship between Baghdad and Washington. al-Sudani’s views regarding keeping the US and NATO forces in Iraq are deemed significant since he has been publicly silent about this issue until now. After the killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in a US drone strike on Baghdad, the Iraqi parliament voted a resolution to withdraw American troops from the country. Currently, 2,000 American troops in Iraq under the umbrella of NATO are training the Iraqi armed forces.
According to Foreign Policy, al-Sudani’s public support for the presence of US troops originates from the threat of ISIS. al-Sudani’s words, however, are not an unexpected turn; instead, they reflect a steady movement toward the United States in recent years. The article’s title is also noteworthy: “The New Iraqi Leader tilts the scales toward the USA.” Former US officials told Foreign Policy that even amid the tension escalating after the assassination of Soleimani, Iraqi officials had expressed support for the US military mission behind closed doors to ensure to defeat of ISIS and counter Iranian influence. “US presence that was hanging by a thread in pre-pandemic Iraq, at the tenuous invite of the Baghdad government, now appears to be there to stay—indefinitely,” interprets the journal the situation that became concrete upon al-Sudani’s statement. Although al-Sudani created uproar in Iraq, the more significant problem is that Centcom has no planning or vision about the future of the US-Iraq relationship.
“The presence of foreign military forces in this country is a very dangerous issue,” remarked Nouri al-Maliki, the leader of the Shiite alliance that brought al-Sudani to the office and kept him in power. It is remarkable that Maliki’s statement followed al-Sudani’s controversial comment.
Then, why did al-Sudani express his public support for the presence of the US troops in the country “independently” of the coalition behind his power and despite growing anti-American sentiments in Iraqi society over the last several years?
The reason for the crisis: US sanctions
Sudani employs the existence of ISIS to justify his statement, but it seems that the underlying issue is the currency crisis that shook the Iraqi markets. Unlike other oil-rich countries, the second largest oil producer of OPEC after Saudi Arabia, Iraq stands out for its economic problems and the massive social protests these sparked. The current crisis, however, is not the same as the usual mechanism of bribery and corruption that plagues Iraq. It has everything to do with US sanctions. The restrictions put into practice by the US to prevent the illegal allocation of dollars for the interests of other US-sanctioned countries, especially Iran, have triggered a severe dollar crisis in the country.
The USA has implemented a “regulation” to the system that allows the daily foreign exchange auctions of the Iraqi Central Bank, which has been in effect for 20 years since the invasion and permitted banks to sell dollars without any restrictions. In November 2022, the US Federal Reserve (FED) started enforcing strict screening on the operations of Iraqi commercial banks, such as requiring all clients to disclose their identities before a transfer of funds could be made. In fact, these measures were implemented after almost two-year planning by the Central Bank of Iraq, the US Department of the Treasury, and the FED. However, in spite of all the planning, since the strict regulations have been in effect, more than 80% of daily dollar transactions have been blocked. As a result of the slowdown in dollar transactions, the markets have rushed into the dinar, ultimately creating a double-sided “currency crisis.”
Protests in rise
Due to the crisis, the value of the Iraqi dinar has weakened vis-à-vis the dollar, leading to a sharp rise in food prices. Over the currency drop, on January 23, al-Sudani dismissed Central Bank Governor Mustafa Ghaleb Mukheef on his request, and Muhsen al-Allaq replaced him. After a slight decrease in the exchange rate following the replacement of the office at the Central Bank, it has begun to increase again quickly. The official rate for Iraqi citizens set by the Central Bank stands at 1,470 dinars to the dollar. Established by the Central Bank of Iraq is 1470 Iraqi dinars per dollar, while on the black market and free market, it ranges from 1590 to 1620 dinars.
Iraqis slowly started to protest against the devaluation of the dinar. The protesters gathering outside the Central Bank called on the government to halt the depreciation of the dinar. Those demonstrating in Iraq called on al-Sudani’s government to do everything they could to bring down inflation. Mainly, they demanded that staples like eggs be made more affordable. Protesters from south Iraq also participated in the demonstration in Baghdad.
The ruling coalition blames the US
Hadi al-Amiri, the leader of the Fatah Coalition and a partner of the Iraqi government, accused the US of using the dollar as a weapon to starve the people in Iraq. “Since the reserves of this country’s central bank are at the Federal Reserve’s disposal, Iraq lacks economic independence. Everyone now knows how the Americans use the dollar as a weapon to starve people. The Americans are currently putting the most pressure on Iraq to prevent its relations with Europe and other countries of the world,” said al-Amiri.
Maliki, the head of the same coalition, claims that the United States uses the dollar as a global weapon: “They try to destabilize it by using dollar paper.” Maliki, however, sees the United States as the key to solving the issue: “There is no solution to the dollar crisis except by controlling the dollar and understanding with the American side.”
Here, the reason behind al-Sudani’s controversial statement that US soldiers are required in Iraq is nothing but Maliki’s proposed solution. al-Sudani is trying to find a way to ease the effects of the dollar crisis. In this regard, he plans to send the Foreign Minister to Washington at the start of February, followed by his own visit. The Iraqi premier may try to negotiate looser US screening on the movement of dollars or at least a postponement of such controls. As the Prime Minister of a coalition accused of being “pro-Iran” and even a “puppet of Iran,” al-Sudani may have hoped that sending sound signals to the United States would facilitate reconciliation. Against this backdrop, Foreign Affairs’s inference that the “The New Iraqi Leader tilts the scales toward the USA” seems an unrealistic expectation.
The dollar is indeed a powerful winning tool in the hands of the USA. The United States may offer the Iraqi government a short-term solution to the pressing crisis. The country is still nothing but one of the major oil producers, although the post-invasion system in Iraq is plagued by bribery, corruption, and smuggling. The greater challenge is that Iraq lacks the political will to combat the issue and blow the cobwebs away.
