Iraq's oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani has claimed Iranian oil tankers seized by U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf were using forged Iraqi documents.
Abdel-Ghani was asked if he had received messages from the United States over the possibility that state oil marketer SOMO could be subject to sanctions itself over the violation of Iranian sanctions.
“We received some verbal inquiries about oil tankers being detained in the Gulf by U.S. naval forces carrying Iraqi shipping manifests,” the oil minister said on state television late on Sunday, adding there had been no formal written communication.
“It turned out that these tankers were Iranian … and were using forged Iraqi documents. We explained this to the relevant authorities with complete transparency and they also confirmed this.”
Iran views neighbour and ally Iraq as vital for keeping its economy afloat while under sanctions. But Baghdad, a partner to both the Washington and Tehran, is wary of being caught in the crosshairs of Trump’s policy to squeeze Iran, sources have stated.
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