Iraqi Foreign Minister says we export oil through the Strait of Hormuz in cooperation with the American side, reports Al Arabiya

Statements of this kind from regional officials have historically surfaced when transit risk premia are elevated, and their function is to keep war-risk insurance rates and freight costs from embedding a disruption premium that physical flows do not yet justify. The mention of discussions with the US over sanctions tied to services for Iranian airlines is the more substantive thread, as it touches the enforcement perimeter of the sanctions regime and Iraq's perennial balancing act between Washington and Tehran, a tension that has in past episodes bled into questions over Iraqi compliance with Iranian energy import waivers. The channels to watch are tanker rates and insurance quotes on Gulf loadings, any shift in how Iraqi crude is marketed at Basra, and follow-on commentary from either capital. As rhetoric without a policy action attached, the immediate read is status quo affirmation rather than escalation or de-escalation.