Iran permits Iraqi oil tankers through Hormuz as Baghdad seeks regional neutrality

Iraq is caught between empires again, this time fighting for the right to ship its own oil. On Saturday, President Nizar Amidi stood before the Baghdad Dialogue policy conference and announced that Iran had begun allowing some Iraqi tankers through the Strait of Hormuz—a narrow passage that has become the choke point of Middle Eastern geopolitics. The permission came after weeks of diplomatic pressure, including a visit to Baghdad by Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, during which securing passage for Iraqi vessels emerged as one of the capital's central demands.

The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed to most traffic since Iran's conflict with the United States and Israel intensified. Ships that do venture through face attacks. Iraq, which produced roughly four million barrels of oil daily before the war erupted, has been among the countries hit hardest by the closure. Now, with Iran selectively opening the passage for Baghdad's tankers, the move signals something more than a simple commercial arrangement—it reflects a calculation about which states deserve Iran's favor and which do not.

Amidi was careful to frame Iraq's position as one of studied neutrality. His government, he said, will not permit its territory to be used for attacks against any nation. The regional war has already inflicted severe damage on Iraq, and Baghdad wants no part in escalating it further. Yet the very fact that Iraq needed to negotiate with Iran for the right to export its own resources underscores how thoroughly the conflict has reshaped the region's economic geography. The Strait of Hormuz, Amidi noted, "affects the whole world, not only Iraq"—a reminder that what happens in this narrow waterway ripples across global energy markets.

Mostafa Khoshcheshm, a professor at Tehran's University of Applied Sciences, offered a blunt reading of Iran's decision. Baghdad has "always stood up to the United States," he said, and Iran is rewarding that stance by treating Iraq as a friendly state while punishing Gulf neighbors who have allowed American forces to use their military bases. Whether those accusations of base usage are accurate or not, the pattern is clear: Iran is using control of the strait as leverage, granting passage selectively based on geopolitical alignment.

But even this permission is only a partial solution. Iraq is simultaneously developing alternative export routes through Turkey's Ceyhan port, Syria's Baniyas facility, and Jordan's Aqaba terminal—a diversification strategy born of necessity. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi announced these plans on Friday, signaling that Baghdad cannot rely on Iranian goodwill alone. The broader closure of Hormuz persists. Iran and Oman are still negotiating arrangements for reopening the strait, with no agreement yet reached. And as long as the United States maintains its naval presence in the waters, Iran says the passage will remain effectively sealed.

What emerges is a holding pattern that affects not just Iraq but every nation dependent on Hormuz traffic. Ships continue to move through at levels far below pre-war numbers, and the threat of attack remains constant. Iraq's permission to transit is a small opening in a much larger closure, a diplomatic gesture that solves nothing about the underlying conflict. For Baghdad, it buys time and some relief for its oil sector. For the world watching energy prices, it is a reminder that the strait's fate remains hostage to negotiations between Tehran, Washington, and the regional powers caught between them.