US halts shipment of Iraq’s oil dollars to curb Iran-linked groups: WSJ

Al Jazeera · 🇶🇦 public Qatar · Apr 22, 2026 · 476 words · By Al Jazeera Staff

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What to know about US halts shipment of Iraq’s oil dollars to curb Iran-linked groups: WSJ

US halts shipment of Iraq’s oil dollars to curb Iran-linked groups: WSJ A plane carrying nearly $500m in US banknotes from Iraq’s oil revenues was blocked by the US Treasury, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Claims checked 10

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center100%

Right0%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

The United States has halted shipments of US dollars to Iraq and paused some security cooperation programmes with the Iraqi military, increasing pressure on Baghdad to curb powerful Iran-aligned groups, according to Iraqi and US officials cited by The Wall…

Common ground

The report said a recent cargo plane shipment carrying nearly $500m in US banknotes was blocked by the US Department of the Treasury.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What terms are actually in the Iran proposal, and which side would have to compromise first?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that A plane carrying nearly $500m in US banknotes from Iraq’s oil revenues was blocked by the US Treasury?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/22/us-halts-iraq-dollar-shipments-in-press…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 10 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5

verified Verified By Reference 3

help Insufficient Evidence 2

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Claim 1: “A plane carrying nearly $500m in US banknotes from Iraq’s oil revenues was blocked by the US Treasury”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results (MSN, WSJ reports) confirm that the US halted/blocked shipments of oil dollars to Iraq's central bank.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Relations between Iran and the United States in modern-day are unsettled and have a troubled history. They began in the mid-to-late 19th century, when Iran was known to the Western world as Qajar Pers…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran–United_States_relations

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2003 invasion of Iraq was the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion began on 20 March 2003 and lasted just over one month, including 26 days of major combat operations. The invasion was conduc…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_invasion_of_Iraq

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On 3 January 2020, Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian major general, was assassinated by an American drone strike ordered by U.S. president Donald Trump near Baghdad International Airport in Iraq, while trav…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Qasem_Soleima…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 2: “The United States has paused some security cooperation programmes with the Iraqi military”

CORROBORATED

Al Jazeera reports that the Wall Street Journal, quoting Iraqi and US officials, stated that the US paused some security cooperation programmes with the Iraqi military.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Diplomatic relations between Iraq and the United States began when the U.S. first recognized Iraq on January 9, 1930, with the signing of the Anglo-American-Iraqi Convention in London by Charles G. Da…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq–United_States_relations

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The occupation of Iraq began on 20 March 2003, when the United States invaded with a military coalition to overthrow Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and his Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, and continued u…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_Iraq_(2003–2011)

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+ 4 more evidence sources

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Claim 3: “In a statement on Tuesday, Iraq’s central bank... said it had sufficient US currency reserves”

CORROBORATED

MSN reports that Iraq's central bank stated on a Tuesday that it had sufficient US currency reserves, which is further supported by other reports on CBI reserves.

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web search NEUTRAL — The Central Bank's reserves have exceeded $100 billion, in addition to Iraq possessing a large gold reserve exceeding 163 tons. The Central Bank is not an investment entity, but is concerned with mana…
https://en.964media.com/36625/

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web search NEUTRAL — Shafaq News/ Iraq's foreign currency reserves are sufficient to finance 13 months of imports, despite a recent decline in coverage, the Central Bank announced on Wednesday. The bank reported that the …
https://shafaq.com/en/Economy/Iraq-s-Central-Bank-Reserves-s…

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web search NEUTRAL — In a statement on Tuesday, Iraq's central bank did not refer directly to the halted deliveries, but said it had sufficient US currency reserves.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-halts-shipment-of-ir…

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Claim 4: “The suspended transfer was the second scheduled dollar shipment to Iraq’s central bank delayed by Washington since the US-Israel war on Iran began in late February”

CORROBORATED

Three independent web search results (including MSN and reports citing WSJ) confirm this was the second scheduled shipment delayed since the war on Iran began in late February.

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web search NEUTRAL — The suspended transfer was the second scheduled dollar shipment to Iraq's central bank delayed by Washington since the US-Israel war on Iran began in late February.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/22/us-halts-iraq-dolla…

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web search NEUTRAL — The suspended transfer was the second scheduled dollar shipment to Iraq's central bank delayed by Washington since the US-Israel war on Iran began in late February. The move comes as Washington pushes…
https://1-e8259.azureedge.net/news/2026/4/22/us-halts-iraq-d…

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web search NEUTRAL — It was the second scheduled shipment of dollars to the Central Bank of Iraq delayed by the U.S. since the start of the Iran war in late February, the U.S. and Iraqi officials said.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-blocks-iraq-s-dollar…

verified

Claim 5: “the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) – an umbrella body of factions formally incorporated into Iraq’s state security apparatus”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia and other search results confirm the PMF is an Iranian-backed umbrella group formally and legally part of the Iraqi Armed Forces/state security apparatus.

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web search NEUTRAL — The Popular Mobilization Forces, also known as the Popular Mobilization Units, is an Iranian-backed paramilitary umbrella group that operates within Iraq. Although formally and legally part of the Ira…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_Mobilization_Forces

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web search NEUTRAL — Following the military defeat over ISIS, Iraq is now entering into a phase of repair and state re-building. Since coming to office, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has revived the state’s armed f…
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/mec/2018/03/15/the-popular-mobilisat…

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web search NEUTRAL — Iraq's parliament passed a law in 2016 to bring the PMF into the state apparatus, with the militias reporting directly to the prime minister, who is a Shi'ite under Iraq's governing system.
https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iraq-shiite-militias-inducted-in…

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Claim 6: “The United States has halted shipments of US dollars to Iraq”

CORROBORATED

The claim is reported by Al Jazeera and corroborated by multiple web search results citing the Wall Street Journal and Iraqi/US officials.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic consisting of 50 states and a federal c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — During the Iran–Iraq War, which began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran on 22 September 1980, the United States adopted a policy of providing support to Iraq in the form of several billion dollars' wort…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_support_for_Iraq…

+ 4 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 7: “The US has also carried out air attacks against armed factions in Iraq aligned with Iran, including groups linked to the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF)”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia entries for '2026 United States–Israeli conflict with pro-Iranian Iraqi militias' and 'Iraq in the 2026 Iran war' confirm US airstrikes against pro-Iranian militias including the PMF.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On the outbreak of the 2026 Iran War, American and Israeli airstrikes struck several pro-Iranian militias under the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) and Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) umbrellas in …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_United_States–Israeli_con…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 Iran war has involved Iraq, where Iranian forces and allied militias based in the country have conducted missile and drone strikes against facilities primarily of the United States, mostly in…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_in_the_2026_Iran_war

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Since 28 February 2026, the United States and Israel have been engaged in a war with Iran and its regional allies. The conflict began when the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, targeting mili…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iran_war

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 8: “The money came from Iraqi oil revenues held in accounts at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Multiple web search results explicitly state that Iraqi oil revenues are held in accounts at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI; Arabic: البنك المركزي العراقي) is a monetary authority established in 1947. The CBI's primary objectives are to ensure domestic price stability and foster a stable compe…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Iraq

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Paul Adolph Volcker Jr. (September 5, 1927 – December 8, 2019) was an American economist who served as the 12th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1979 to 1987. During his tenure as chairman, Volcke…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Volcker

+ 3 more evidence sources

help

Claim 9: “Following the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, Washington took control over the management of Iraq’s oil revenues by placing tens of billions of dollars in proceeds at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No specific evidence was provided in the search results to confirm the exact mechanism of the 2003 transfer of oil revenues to the NY Fed, although current control is verified.

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Claim 10: “Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, in office since 2022”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided in the search results regarding the tenure of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.