Aftandilian in The Arab Weekly on U.S.-Iraq Relations
Gregory Aftandilian, Lecturer at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, published an Op-Ed on how United States sanctions against Iran are impacting U.S. relations with Iraq.
Aftandilian’s Op-Ed, entitled “Iran Sanctions Are Testing U.S. Relations With Iraq,” was published in The Arab Weekly on December 2, 2018.
From the text of the article:
The Trump administration has generally been cautious in criticising Iraqi officials largely because, after so much blood and treasure has been spent there, it wants Iraq to be in the US orbit.
It also wants to continue its training mission with the Iraqi Army, which proved very important in the defeat of the Islamic State. A stable, friendly Iraq is a clear US goal.
However, the administration’s Iran sanctions policy is severely testing the US-Iraqi relationship. US national security adviser John Bolton’s comment that the administration wants to “squeeze them [the Iranians] until the pips squeak” runs counter to the strong economic and cultural ties between Iraq and Iran that have developed since the toppling of Saddam Hussein.
Even though it has substantial oil resources, Iraq is dependent on Iran for a significant portion of its energy needs; natural gas from Iran accounts for 45% of Iraq’s electricity consumption, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The United States granted Baghdad a 45-day waiver from its most recent sanctions against Iran but US energy officials acknowledged that it will take Iraq much longer to develop alternatives to importing energy from Iran.
Aftandilian spent over 21 years in government service, most recently on Capitol Hill where he was foreign policy adviser to Congressman Chris Van Hollen (2007-2008), professional staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and foreign policy adviser to Senator Paul Sarbanes (2000-2004), and foreign policy fellow to the late Senator Edward Kennedy (1999).