US administration begins drafting possible sanctions against Iraq

Senior US administration officials have begun drafting sanctions against Iraq after the parliament of the country adopted the resolution to expel US troops, Report informs, citing The Washington Post.

The White House could impose sanctions in a way that prohibits American businesses from working with Iraqi companies. Trump has floated multiple scenarios, both in terms of a military response and an economic response, aimed at Iran and Iraq, depending on how they decide to react.

The Treasury Department and White House will probably take a lead role if the sanctions are implemented, the officials said.

Such a step would represent a highly unusual move against a foreign ally that the United States has spent almost two decades and hundreds of billions of dollars supporting, the article reads. It emphasized that talks were preliminary and that no final decision has been made on whether to impose the sanctions.

One of the officials said the plan was to wait “at least a little while” on the sanctions decision to see whether Iraqi officials followed through on their threat to push US troops out of the country.