By Daniel DePetris
In the world of foreign policy, rarely do cost-free options exist.
Policymakers are often forced to deal with crises on the fly, which means that policies enacted in the heat of the moment can turn counterproductive months or even weeks later. Cue U.S. policy in Iraq. In reality, U.S. policy here is as much about Iran as it is about maintaining constructive U.S.-Iraqi relations. Iraq has been the unfortunate victim of Washington’s yearslong maximum pressure campaign against Tehran, a difficult position for the ever fractious government in Baghdad.
The latest dispute isn’t about this week's U.S. airstrikes on Iranian-supervised Iraqi Shia militia targets. Although it must be noted that those actions elicited condemnation from the Iraqi government. Rather, the current crisis takes center in electricity payments to Iran. This is a perpetual problem for the Iraqi government.
Due to Iraq’s doddering electricity system, Baghdad relies on neighboring Iran for roughly a third of its power. Iranian electricity imports have been a recurring dispute between the U.S. and Iraq. Washington, intent on squeezing the Iranian economy, has long prodded the Iraqi government to build up its domestic capacity in order to decrease Iraqi dependency on Tehran for electricity.
This piece was originally published in Washington Examiner on July 2, 2021. Read more HERE.