US Treasury’s top sanctions official in Iraq to meet PM as Washington takes action against bank

The US Treasury Department’s top sanctions official travelled to Baghdad on Sunday, a Treasury spokesperson said, as Washington seeks to counter Iran’s sanctions evasion in Iraq and bring the country’s financial sector in line with international standards.

Treasury’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson, travelled to Iraq from Sunday to Monday, where he met senior Iraqi officials, including Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, as part of continuing work on countering illicit finance, the spokesperson said.

While on the trip, Nelson and counterparts discussed protecting Iraqi and international financial systems from criminal, corrupt and terrorist actors, the spokesperson said, adding that Washington will continue to be a partner in protecting Iraq’s financial sector “from abuse by Iran or other malign actors”.

The United States on Monday also identified Iraq’s Al-Huda Bank as a foreign financial institution of primary money laundering concern, accusing it of serving as a conduit for terrorist financing.

Alongside the finding, the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed a rule that would sever the bank from the US financial system by prohibiting domestic financial institutions and agencies from opening or maintaining a correspondent account for or on behalf of the bank.

Washington also slapped sanctions on the bank’s owner.

“Al-Huda Bank and its foreign sponsors, including Iran and its proxy groups, divert funds that could otherwise support legitimate business and the economic aspirations of the Iraqi people,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.

“These bad actors fuel violence that threatens the stability of Iraq and the lives of SU and Iraqi citizens alike.”