ERBIL () - Iraqi government spokesman Haider Abboudi confirmed on Saturday that Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi's visit to the United States produced a key understanding on the continuation of cash dollar shipments to Iraq, with a new dollar convoy expected to be sent to Iraq within the coming days, the Iraqi News Agency reported.
"One of the main achievements of the visit of Prime Minister Ali Falih al-Zaidi to the United States was reaching an understanding regarding the continuation of cash dollar convoys to Iraq, in a way that contributes to meeting the legitimate and legal needs for foreign currency,"Abboudi told the Iraqi News Agency.
Within that framework, a new dollar convoy will be sent to Iraq within the coming days.
The government spokesman attributed the understanding to significant progress Iraq has made in strengthening its monitoring system over dollar distribution, organizing usage patterns, limiting cases of foreign currency misuse, expanding electronic payment tools, and taking practical steps toward a gradual transition to a digital economy.
The confirmation that a new dollar convoy is imminent resolves, at least temporarily, one of the most acute financial pressure points facing Baghdad. had previously confirmed exclusively through two Iraqi government sources that the Trump administration warned al-Zaidi during his Washington visit that monthly dollar transfers would be suspended if Iran-aligned armed groups did not disarm by September 30, making the dollar shipments a direct financial lever tied to the militia disarmament file.
However, a separate warning from inside Iraq's parliament underlines that the resolution may be conditional and temporary. Danar Abdul Ghaffar, a member of the Finance Committee in Iraq's parliament, told that August 6 was the last time the US Federal Reserve sent a $500 million cash shipment to Iraq's Central Bank. He confirmed that amount has been used to cover salaries, travel, and external transfers, with very little remaining. Abdul Ghaffar stressed that if armed groups do not hand over their weapons by September 30, there is a real risk the US Federal Reserve will not easily send dollars to Iraq going forward.
The tension between the government spokesman's announcement of an imminent new dollar convoy and the parliament finance member's warning about the September 30 condition reflects the precarious nature of the understanding al-Zaidi secured in Washington. The new shipment appears to reflect Washington's acknowledgment of Iraq's good-faith progress on financial reform and digital economy transition, while the September 30 militia disarmament deadline remains the longer-term condition for the sustained continuation of dollar flows.
The last dollar shipment on August 6 and the depletion of that reserve over the following seven weeks illustrates the speed at which Iraq's foreign currency reserves are consumed by routine government obligations, and underlines why the continuation of dollar convoys is not a matter of economic preference but of fiscal survival for Baghdad.
