Ahmad 
Iraq on Sunday banned eight local commercial banks from dealing in US dollars, as part of measures to curb fraud, money laundering and other illegal uses of the dollar.
According to Reuters, the move comes days after a senior US Treasury official visited Iraq, where the government prevented banks from accessing the daily auction of dollars organized by the Central Bank of Iraq, the main source of hard currency in Iraq.
A document from the Central Bank of Iraq revealed the names of the banned banks, namely: Ashur International Investment Bank, Investment Bank of Iraq, Union Bank of Iraq, Kurdistan Islamic International Bank for Investment and Development, Al-Huda Bank, South Islamic Bank for Investment and Finance, Arab Islamic Bank, and Hammurabi Commercial Bank.
The Central Bank of Iraq says banks banned from dealing in dollars are allowed to continue operating and conducting transactions in other currencies.
A spokesperson for the US Treasury Department said: “We commend the continued steps taken by the Central Bank of Iraq to protect the Iraqi financial system from misuse, which has led to legitimate Iraqi banks achieving international connectivity through compatible banking relationships.”
In July 2023, Iraq banned 14 banks from conducting dollar transactions as part of a broader campaign to smuggle dollars into Iran through the Iraqi banking system, and the decision came after a request from Washington, according to Iraqi and US officials.