Iraq MP proposes suspension of oil exports to Jordan

An Iraqi lawmaker has revealed yesterday that he has initiated a proposal to suspend subsidised oil exports to Jordan.

According to Shafaq News, MP Mustafa Jabbar Sanad said he collected signatures from fellow parliamentarians to issue a resolution, amid allegations that the neighbouring country participated in US airstrikes in Iraq, following a deadly drone strike carried out by Iraqi resistance factions against a US base along the Jordan-Syria border.

Sanad stated, “I have gathered signatures from parliamentarians to issue a parliamentary resolution requiring the Ministry of Oil to halt the sale of subsidized oil to Jordan.”

“We must use our resources correctly to preserve the dignity of our country and protect the lives of our men, our pride, and our national sovereignty,” he added.

The calls for a vote on a resolution requires the Ministry of Oil to cease selling crude oil at the supported price to Jordan due to Amman’s alleged involvement in recent attacks against Iraq. However, a report by Jordan Times said cited a source from Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army (JAF) yesterday as saying that the Royal Jordanian Air Force did not take part in the US air strikes in Iraq.

The JAF source described the news reports as “baseless”, emphasising the Jordanian army’s respect of Iraqi sovereignty and the Kingdom’s brotherly deep-rooted relations with all Arab countries.

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On Friday, the US targeted 85 sites across Iraq and Syria, including command and control headquarters, intelligence centres, rockets and missiles, drone and ammunition storage sites and other facilities that were connected to Iranian-supported factions or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC’s) Quds Force.

The airstrikes were condemned by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s office as a “new aggression against Iraq’s sovereignty.”

The outlet noted that this isn’t the first time that the Iraqi Parliament has called for halting oil exports to Jordan. Zainab Al-Mousawi, a member of the Parliamentary Oil and Gas Committee, had previously stated that Jordan’s stances were “consistently hostile” towards Iraq, especially towards Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which is integrated into the Iraqi armed forces.

Jordan imports about 95 per cent of its energy needs, and Iraq is one of its main supplier of crude oil. Last year, Iraq exported an average of 1.4 million barrels of crude oil per day, of which 100,000 barrels per day were exported to the Hashemite Kingdom.

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