Iraqi Oil Minister: Iranian Tankers Operate with 'Fake Iraqi Documents'

The Iraqi Oil Minister announced that following the increase in economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic, Iranian tankers are transporting Iranian crude oil using 'fake Iraqi documents.' Hayyan Abdul-Ghani, the Iraqi minister, reported in a television interview on Sunday, March 23, that U.S. forces seized an Iranian tanker in the Persian Gulf in the last month of 2024, which was carrying documents from Iraqi oil officials. According to this Iraqi official, the U.S. Navy informed his government that several tankers were traveling with Iraqi documentation. Abdul-Ghani further stated that these tankers were Iranian and 'were using fake Iraqi documents.' Concurrently, as unilateral U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic increase and the pressure on the government tightens, Iranian officials have resorted to various strategies to supposedly 'bypass sanctions' in order to access oil revenue. It appears that 'forging Iraqi documents' has been one of these strategies. However, the Iranian Ministry of Oil has yet to respond to Reuters' inquiries on this matter, and no reaction has been published from Islamic Republic officials regarding the Iraqi minister's accusations. Since Donald Trump's return to the White House, he has once again adopted a 'maximum pressure' policy towards Iran, which includes efforts to 'zero out' Iran's oil exports to prevent funding for its proxy militant groups in the region and to thwart its nuclear weapons ambitions. Following the re-issuance of this policy by Trump, the U.S. government has imposed four rounds of economic sanctions against Tehran in the last two months alone, which include Iranian tankers and even small private refineries in China. Simultaneously, the Trump administration has increased pressure on Iraq to resume oil exports from the Kurdistan region, threatening that otherwise, this country would face 'Washington's sanctions' just like Iran.