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January 12, 2020 The US administration of Donald Trump has new heavy threats to Iraq in the event of a withdrawal of US troops from the country: the current accounts opened in American banks, where oil revenues end, will be blocked. The Wall Street Journal exclusively revealed this, citing anonymous officials of the US State Department.

In particular, Washington would deprive Baghdad of billions of dollars deposited in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. And if that happens, Iraq won't be able to withdraw funds, which could lead to the collapse of the government and paralysis of the local economy.

According to the "Wall Street Journal", an American official informed the interim Iraqi prime minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, in a phone call last Wednesday about the new punishment and the harm that would result.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York provides banking services to about 250 central banks and government institutions around the world and already in 2015 it had blocked a current account of the Iraqi government for several weeks following some suspected payments to Iranian banks and ISIS . It is unclear how much it is currently deposited with the New York Fed on behalf of Baghdad, but the WSJ had documented that the balance was $ 3 billion at the end of 2018.