World

Iraq will benefit from sanctions against Iran

Iran will sell less oil—and Iraq will make up the difference

March 19, 2013
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A senior official told Prospect this morning that Iraq stood to benefit from western sanctions against its neighbour Iran. Many Iraqis remember well the debilitating effects of the sanctions that were imposed on Iraq when Saddam was in office and retain strong views about the ethical implications of such methods.

However, a calculation that is increasingly understood in Iraq is that sanctions on Iran means the country will sell less oil and that Iraq will make up the difference. By this simple calculation, Iraqi oil sales will increase, and the economic effect will be positive.

Iranian sanctions do however, have some small but significant negative economic effects on Iraq. Sanctions have caused Iraq’s tourism industry to go into decline. Iranian pilgrims cross the border in great numbers to visit Iraq’s holy sites, but this phenomenon is in decline as sanctions have begun to bite.