Tasnim – The Iraqi parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee plans to pressure the US officials to extend a sanctions waiver for Baghdad to continue importing energy from neighboring Iran, Hassan al-Fadam, a member of the committee announced.

Speaking to the Arabic-language al-Sumaria News, Fadam said it is likely that the US would extend the anti-Iran sanctions waiver for Iraq.

With all its power and through its relations, the Foreign Relations Committee will exert pressure on the American side to exempt the Baghdad government from the sanctions, he added.

“Iraq’s interests in the region are based on the exchange of interests with regional countries, Iran in particular, because it is an important country with which we share long borders and have numerous trade exchanges,” the Iraqi MP went on to say.

It came after the White House said on Monday that Trump “has decided not to reissue” waivers regarding sanctions against countries importing Iranian oil when the waivers expire “in early May”.

The exact deadline is May 2.

“This decision is intended to bring Iran's oil exports to zero, denying the regime its principal source of revenue,” the statement from White House press secretary Sarah Sanders read.

Iraq’s foreign minister recently said his country is “not obliged” to abide by sanctions imposed by the US against Iran and would be pursuing options to continue bilateral trade.

Countries that continue to import Iranian oil in large amounts include Iraq, India, China, South Korea, Japan and Turkey.