Media reports cited a U.S. official confirming that the State Department had issued “a new national security waiver letting Iraq pay Iran for electricity that for the first time allows such payments to go to accounts at non-Iraqi banks”. The following day, a U.S. diplomatic spokesperson clarified that the waiver would “authorise the transfer of funds… to restricted accounts in select third-party banks… where they can only be used for non-sanctionable activity, and with every transaction approved in advance by the Department of Treasury”. He further indicated that “we continue to review Iraq’s announced oil for gas swap [with Iran], including in relation to our current sanctions. We continue to implement all U.S. sanctions on Iran”.