US resumes dollar transfers to Iraq, NYT reports

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The United States has resumed some air shipments ​of US 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 resistance forces.

READ MORE: ‘Positive progress’ in US-Iran indirect talks in Doha: Qatar spokesman

The suspension in cooperation and funding for Iraq’s security services remains in place, the NYT report said.

The White House, US 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 US blaming Iranian-backed resistance forces for attacks in Iraq, including repeated strikes ⁠on ​the US embassy in Baghdad and ​the US consulate in the Kurdistan region.