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Iran grants Iraq permission for its oil tankers to pass through Hormuz

Iran has granted Iraq permission for a number of its oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran’s official IRNA news agency.

The decision comes during a visit to Iraq by Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

According to the report, his Iraqi counterpart, Haibat al-Halbousi, asked Ghalibaf for the allowance in order to protect his country’s economic interests.

The report does not specify how many Iraqi tankers Iran would let through, when the allowance would start, or whether there was a specific timeframe.

Iraq will not allow its territory to be used to attack any country: President

Iraqi President Nizar Amidi says Baghdad will not accept Iraqi territory being used to launch attacks against any other country. Speaking on the second day of the eighth Baghdad Dialogue Conference, Amidi said attacks launched from inside Iraq against countries in the region “have no justification”.

He said only “two or three” armed factions in Iraq have yet to hand over their weapons, adding that dialogue is continuing over efforts to restrict arms to state control. “The constitution stipulates that weapons must be restricted to the state, and the religious authority in Najaf also calls for this,” Amidi said.

“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.

He said several vessels carrying Iraqi oil were being facilitated through the Strait of Hormuz and added that he believed the United States wanted an agreement to end the war.

Iran allowing Iraq to use Hormuz in attempt to bring ‘temperature down’

Iran’s decision to allow Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz appears to be a goodwill gesture, according to Mohamad Bazzi, director of the Center for Near Eastern Studies at New York University.

“Iraqi officials, including the prime minister, have asked for Iran to allow Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the strait” during meetings, Bazzi told Al Jazeera. “Iraq produced something around four million barrels of oil per day before the outbreak of the war in late February.”

Bazzi said Iran is using the strait as a way to reinforce alliances, show themselves as the primary mechanism for controlling the strait, and to reward countries that don’t allow US military bases, where attacks on Iran have been initiated.

The new government in Baghdad “doesn’t want to displease Washington and it doesn’t want to displease Tehran, and it’s caught in the middle in a lot of ways because some of its actions are going to displease one side or the other”, Bazzi explained.

He added that there have been tensions between Iraq and Iran over the past few months, especially when Iraqi militias aligned with Iran attacked neighbouring countries, and Saudi Arabia and the US launched strikes on them in response.

“This is an attempt by Tehran to bring the temperature down a little bit,” he said.

Iran giving ‘friendly state’ of Iraq a pass in Hormuz while Gulf countries seen as allied to US

Iran has decided to let Iraqi oil tanker pass through the Strait of Hormuz because Baghdad has “always stood up to the United States,” Mostafa Khoshcheshm, professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Tehran, said.

Tehran maintains that Gulf states have allowed American forces to use their military bases to launch attacks on Iran, which they deny.

Khoshcheshm said Iran is looking to punish Gulf states 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.