Iraq denies US claims deputy oil minister helped Iran evade sanctions

Iraq denies US claims deputy oil minister helped Iran evade sanctions Iraq's oil ministry has denied US accusations against its deputy minister, who the United States hit with sanctions over alleged support to Iran, as Washington escalates pressure on Baghdad to break with Iranian-linked groups. The US State Department on Thursday announced sanctions on Ali Maarij al-Bahadli, saying he "abused his government position to divert Iraqi oil in support of the Iranian regime and its terrorist proxies. " It accused him of fraudulently mixing Iraqi and Iranian oil as part of a scheme to help Iran avoid sanctions.