Iran war squeezes Iraq’s economy as oil revenues fall and prices rise

Iraq is a state heavily dependent on imports, from food and medicines to appliances, as well as raw materials for its industries. Its one big export is oil, but it sits on such a huge supply of the natural resource that revenues from the sale of oil abroad offset the imports and ensured that the country had a positive trade surplus. Things have changed, however, since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran in late February, and the subsequent end to the free flow of trade through the Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the country’s trade with the rest of the world passed. Now, Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has described the country as “facing extraordinary economic challenges”.