Iraq: US Did Not Impose Conditions over Dollar Crisis

Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks at a press conference in Baghdad on Monday. (INA)
Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks at a press conference in Baghdad on Monday. (INA)
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Iraq: US Did Not Impose Conditions over Dollar Crisis

Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks at a press conference in Baghdad on Monday. (INA)
Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks at a press conference in Baghdad on Monday. (INA)

Iraq denied claims that the US had imposed conditions on its delegation, which recently visited Washington, regarding the dollar exchange issue.

An Iraqi delegation, headed by Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, had visited Washington and met with Secretary of the State Antony Blinken earlier this month.

During a press conference in Baghdad on Monday, Hussein denied that conditions were imposed on the delegation, noting that the electronic platform launched by the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) would determine benefit from the dollars and help end smuggling.

He explained that the delegation included officials from various sectors, including senior officials from the financial and banking industries. He added that the visit addressed political issues, but mainly focused on the economy, fighting corruption, and combating ISIS terrorism.

He assured the Iraqi people "the financial and oil cover proves that the Iraqi currency is strong," adding that the dollar crisis occurred because of the electronic financing system.

Moreover, he revealed that the SWIFT platform had uncovered many manipulations and counterfeit bills. It will help stop and prevent dollar smuggling and determine the number of dollar bills in the market.

Hussein indicated that Iraq is a "consumer society" and imports many of its needs, which requires the availability of dollars, noting that Iraqi reserves exceeded $100 billion.

He added that it is only a matter of time before the exchange rate stabilizes.

The minister also denied reports that Iraq was seeking to normalize relations with Israel, asserting that it was not discussed with the US officials or any political blocs.

Meanwhile, the US Treasury announced that Iraq's possession of US bonds rose to more than $40 billion.

The Treasury said Iraq's possession of US Treasury bonds surpassed $40 billion, rising from $39.717 billion in October 2022. This marked an increase of 81.4 percent compared to the same month in 2021.

Iraqi bonds, including long-term guarantees, amounted to $28.239 billion, and short-term guarantees amounted to $12.575 billion, representing 0.55 percent of the world's bonds.



UN Reports 798 Deaths Near Gaza Aid Hubs in Six Weeks

Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
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UN Reports 798 Deaths Near Gaza Aid Hubs in Six Weeks

Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo

The UN rights office said on Friday it had recorded at least 798 killings within the past six weeks at aid points in Gaza run by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and near convoys run by other relief groups.

The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing a UN-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the allegation.

After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinian civilians trying to reach the GHF's aid hubs in zones where Israeli forces operate, the United Nations has called its aid model "inherently unsafe" and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards, Reuters reported.

"(From May 27) up until the seventh of July, we've recorded 798 killings, including 615 in the vicinity of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, and 183 presumably on the route of aid convoys," UN rights office (OHCHR) spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told a media briefing in Geneva.

The GHF, which began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May after Israel lifted an 11-week-old aid blockade, told Reuters the UN figures were "false and misleading". It has repeatedly denied that deadly incidents have occurred at its sites.

"The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys," a GHF spokesperson said.

The Israeli army said it was reviewing recent mass casualties and that it had sought to minimize friction between Palestinians and the Israel army by installing fences and signs and opening additional routes.

GUNSHOT WOUNDS

The OHCHR said it based its figures on a range of sources such as information from hospitals in Gaza, cemeteries, families, Palestinian health authorities, NGOs and its partners on the ground.

Most of the injuries to Palestinians in the vicinity of aid distribution hubs recorded by the OHCHR since May 27 were gunshot wounds, Shamdasani said.

"We've raised concerns about atrocity crimes having been committed and the risk of further atrocity crimes being committed where people are lining up for essential supplies such as food," she said.

Following the GHF assertion that the OHCHR figures are false and misleading, Shamdasani said: It is not helpful to issue blanket dismissals of our concerns - what is needed is investigations into why people are being killed while trying to access aid."

Israel has repeatedly said its forces operate near the relief aid sites to prevent supplies falling into the hands of militants it has been fighting in the Gaza war triggered by the Hamas-led cross-border attack on October 7, 2023.

"Following incidents in which harm to civilians who arrived at distribution facilities was reported thorough examinations were conducted in the Southern Command," an Israeli army spokesperson said in a statement, adding that such incidents were under review by the army.

The GHF said on Friday it had delivered more than 70 million meals to hungry Gaza Palestinians in five weeks, and that other humanitarian groups had "nearly all of their aid looted" by Hamas or criminal gangs.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has previously cited instances of violent pillaging of aid, and the UN World Food Program said last week that most trucks carrying food assistance into Gaza had been intercepted by "hungry civilian communities".

There is an acute shortage of food and other basic supplies 21 months into Israel's military campaign in Gaza, during which much of the enclave has been reduced to rubble and most of its 2.3 million inhabitants displaced.