BLIND EYE

Iraq Helping Iran Skirt Sanctions

U.S. officials say.

Iraqi banking institutions have been helping Iran sidestep regulations imposed by the United States, said American officials. The country’s cozy relationship with Iran little more than eight months after American troops left Iraqi soil has caused concern among American leaders, and Obama placed a call to Iraq’s prime minister recently after learning that Iranian supply planes were passing through Iraqi airspace en route to Syria. The Treasury Department undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence wrote in a note to The New York Times that the Islamic Republic “may seek to escape the force of our financial sanctions through Iraqi financial institutions.”