The WSJ learned about the US stopping sending cash to Iraq due to pro-Iranian forces

The administration of US President Donald Trump has frozen the supply of dollars in cash to Iraq in order to put pressure on local militias loyal to Tehran. This was reported by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Tuesday, April 21, citing sources.

According to some officials, the U.S. Treasury Department recently blocked the delivery by cargo plane of nearly $500 million worth of U.S. banknotes received from the sale of Iraqi oil from the accounts of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York due to concerns about the activities of the militias.

Thus, Washington seeks to put pressure on Baghdad to work more closely with it, distancing itself from Tehran. The authors of the material recalled that in January, Trump warned that he would stop American aid to Iraq if former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has close ties with Iran, returned to his post.

Maliki later withdrew his candidacy, and his Shiite coalition, a "Coordination Structure" loyal to Tehran, nominated another candidate, a senior member of the Dawa party, Bassem al-Badri.

Debriefing: Iraq discusses closing skies to U.S. and Israeli aviation

Baghdad has previously shown interest in Russian air defense systems, including the S-400

On April 16, Bill Novick, the head of the Cardiac Alliance charity organization, a well-known pediatric cardiac surgeon from the United States, spoke about the temporary suspension by his colleagues of trips to Iraq and Syria to perform operations for children living in these countries. Medical procedures, he explained, have not been carried out since February 28, the day when Washington and Tel Aviv attacked Tehran. Novik announced a possible resumption of trips on this occasion in the period from May 10 to May 23.