July 2 (Reuters) – The United States has resumed some air shipments of U.S. dollars to Iraq, several months after suspending them, the New York Times reported on Thursday, citing two aides to Iraq’s prime minister.
“The dollar shipments to Iraq have resumed,” Haider al-Aboudi, a spokesman for Iraq’s prime minister, told the newspaper.
Mudhar Muhammad Salih, a financial adviser to the prime minister, also confirmed resumption of the transfer, the report said.
In April, Washington halted a shipment of about $500 million in cash bound for Iraq and suspended parts of its security cooperation with Baghdad, in a move aimed at pressuring the Iraqi government over the actions of Iran-backed militias.
The suspension in cooperation and funding for Iraq’s security services remains in place, the NYT report said.
The White House, U.S. State Department and the Treasury did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside business hours. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
The measures were taken as the fallout from the Iran war escalated, with the U.S. blaming Iranian-backed militias for attacks in Iraq, including repeated strikes on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and the U.S. consulate in the Kurdistan region.
Reporting by Anusha Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Sonali Paul.
