Iran has allowed several Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz after Baghdad submitted multiple requests through various channels, according to Iranian state media.
IRNA news agency reported on Saturday that granting special permission for Iraqi oil tankers was among Baghdad's key demands during a visit this week by Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf to Iraq.
Iraqi President Nizar Amidi said on Saturday that Iran had facilitated the passage of "a number of Iraqi oil tankers" through the strait in recent days, and that Baghdad had discussed Iraq's oil exports via Hormuz with Iranian officials.
Speaking at the Baghdad Dialogue policy conference, Amidi added that the government would not accept its territory being used to launch attacks against any state. The Iraqi president argued that attacks launched from inside Iraq against regional countries "have no legitimate justification."
"Everyone wants to prevent Iraq from being dragged into the ongoing war in the region," he said, noting that the war's consequences "have made things difficult for our country."
On the Strait of Hormuz, Amidi said the waterway "affects the whole world, not just Iraq," and that Baghdad remains in talks with Iran over what he called "complex issues" concerning the strait.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Mostafa Khoshcheshm, a professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Tehran, said Iran decided to allow Iraqi tankers through the Strait of Hormuz because Baghdad has "always stood up against the United States."
Khoshcheshm suggested that Iran is seeking to punish Gulf states that have allowed US forces to use their military bases to attack Iran—a claim regional countries deny—while viewing Iraq as a "friendly nation."
"Iran has asked other countries to do the same [and] prevent the US from using their territory," the analyst added.
Iraq is one of the countries most affected by Iran's effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Ship traffic through the strait remains significantly lower than pre-war levels, and vessels continue to face attacks in the region.
Iraq was producing about 4 million barrels of oil per day before the US-Israeli war against Iran erupted. But Baghdad is working to expand exports through Turkey's Ceyhan port and has also begun shipping oil via Syria's Banias port and Jordan's Aqaba port, Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said on Friday.
