Iran has granted permission for a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz following repeated requests from Baghdad through various channels, according to Iranian state media.
The IRNA government news service reported on Saturday that obtaining special permission for Iraqi tankers was one of Baghdad’s main requests during Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s visit to Iraq this week.
Iraqi President Nizar Amidi said on Saturday that Iran had facilitated the passage of “some ships carrying Iraqi oil in the strait” in recent days and Baghdad had discussed the export of Iraqi oil through Hormuz with Iranian officials.
Speaking at the Baghdad Dialogue policy conference, Amidi added that the government will not accept Iraqi territory being used to launch attacks against any other country. The Iraqi president said attacks launched from inside Iraq against countries in the region “have no justification”.
“Everyone is keen to prevent Iraq from being dragged into the ongoing war in the region,” he said, adding that its repercussions “have been harsh on our country”.
On the Strait of Hormuz, Amidi said it “affects the whole world, not only Iraq”, adding that Baghdad remained in talks with Iran over what he described as “complex problems” in the strait.
Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, described the situation around the strait as a “holding pattern that applies not only to Iraqis but also all countries”.
“The situation at the Strait of Hormuz remains still vague as Iran has been involved in talks with Oman to find the arrangements for the reopening of the strait,” Asadi said.
“So far, no deal has been reached, regardless of the good progress that Iran has been talking about. And obviously – speaking of the larger context – the United States is another determinant when it comes to the closure of the strait, as the Iranians are saying that as long as the naval blockade continues, the strait is going to remain closed,” he added.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Mostafa Khoshcheshm, a professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Tehran, said Iran has decided to let Iraqi oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz because Baghdad has “always stood up to the United States”.
Khoshcheshm suggested Iran is looking to punish Gulf states, which have allowed US forces to use their military bases to launch attacks on Iran – an accusation regional countries’ deny – while treating Iraq as a “friendly state”.
“Iran has requested other states to do the same [and] stop the US from using their territory,” the analyst added.
Iraq has been among the countries most affected by Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic in the strait remains significantly below pre-war levels and ships continue to face attacks in the area.
