Members of the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades in a previous military parade in Baghdad (Iraqi Press)

A senior official in the US Treasury Department said that Washington expects the Iraqi government to help it obstruct the financing of armed factions in the country, after a drone attack targeted an American base in Jordan, killing 3 American soldiers and wounding dozens. Others.

The American official - who requested to remain anonymous - said, "These groups benefit from - and exploit - Iraq, its financial systems, and its financial structure in order to continue these attacks, and we must deal with that directly."

He continued, "Our expectations in the Treasury Department are that there is more that we can do together to exchange information and determine how these militias operate here in Iraq."

Iraq, a rare ally of both the United States and Iran that has more than $100 billion in US reserves, relies heavily on Washington's goodwill to ensure that its access to oil revenues and financial resources is not hampered.

The Pentagon said that a drone attack on a US military site near the Jordanian-Syrian border on Sunday bore the "fingerprints" of the Iraqi armed group Kataib Hezbollah, but a final assessment has not yet been made.

Groups allied with Iran have launched attacks on Israeli and American targets from Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria since the outbreak of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip on October 7.

Iraqi armed factions have claimed responsibility for more than 150 attacks on American forces in the region since then.

Western officials praised cooperation with Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani in implementing economic and financial reforms aimed at limiting the ability of Iran and its allies to obtain US currency and bringing the Iraqi economy in line with international standards.

This includes a campaign to connect banks to the international financial system and encourage electronic payments in a society where cash remains the norm.

"I think in just 12 to 13 months we've seen a tremendous amount of progress in all of those areas," the Treasury official said.

Source: Reuters