US steps up ‘maximum pressure’ campaign against Iran, removes waiver allowing Iraq to buy Iranian electricity

This week the Trump administration ended a waiver allowing the Iraqi government to buy Iranian electricity. This action is consistent with the US "maximum pressure" strategy on Iran.

The national security adviser, Mike Waltz, celebrated via a call to the Iraqi prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani for efforts to achieve Iraq's energy independence and encouraged the Iraqi government to welcome more Western and US energy companies into the oil and gas sectors.

The US advisor also called on the Iraqi government to resolve its dispute with the Kurdistan Regional Government, where Iraq has prevented the flow of oil from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to Turkey for years, seeking to keep that area dependent on Iranian oil.

These actions are in response to a global effort to increase oil supplies and keep prices under control, and would also deprive Iran and Russia of fuel revenues.

Waltz requested that the Iraqi government hire "an investment coordinator to work with US companies looking to invest and operate in Iraq," according to a post on X summarizing the US official's call with the Iraqi prime minister.

"The National Security Advisor thanked the Prime Minister for his commitment to the bilateral US-Iraqi relationship, and emphasized the Trump administration’s commitment to deepening energy and economic ties between the two countries to benefit both the American and Iraqi peoples."

As the new US administration goes to great lengths to prevent the Iranian regime from acquiring a nuclear weapon, Waltz assured that pressure on Iran would increase if that country continues to support terrorism throughout the region.

The sanctions waiver that allowed the Iraqi government to purchase Iranian electricity was first issued when Trump began applying "maximum pressure" on Iran during his first administration.

Former President Joe Biden continually renewed the waiver until its expiration on Saturday.

The executive order applied only to electricity, where Iraqi dependence on Iran has dropped precipitously to just 4% in recent days. If the recent measure were to also include gas used for power plants, it would "cause Iraq to lose more than 30% of its electrical energy," according to a spokesman for the Iraqi Electricity Ministry, Ahmad Moussa, who said the country is looking for alternatives.

Iran currently exports an average of 1.5 million barrels of oil per day, but according to Trump's Feb. 6 executive order, his Cabinet secretaries of State and Treasury are to work to "implement a campaign aimed at reducing Iran's oil exports to zero.”

The US is also seeking to end a sanctions waiver for Iran's Chabahar port, where India has invested $370 million to build a trade channel to the Middle East.