News, Rumors and Opinions Saturday 5-2-2026
KTFA:
Clare: "Green light”... The doors of the White House are opening again for Iraq with a new opportunity contingent on distancing itself from Iran’s orbit.
5/1/2026
Following the appointment of Ali al-Zaidi as the new Iraqi prime minister, Baghdad has entered a new political phase, amid clear indications that the US administration views al-Zaidi as an opportunity to reshape its relationship with Iraq according to stricter conditions related to security, the economy, and regional influence.
Sources within the administration indicate that President Trump's phone call to al-Zaidi, his congratulations, and the official invitation to visit Washington represent a significant political signal of initial US acceptance of his appointment.
This also opens the door to potential support on key issues, including the state's monopoly on the use of force, the resumption of dollar inflows, and the strengthening of economic and investment cooperation, particularly in the oil and energy sectors.
However, this US openness does not appear to be unconditional. Reports from American research centers warn that any Iraqi government that includes figures linked to armed factions or close to Iran could face direct pressure from the Trump administration, which seeks to impose strict red lines on the composition of the next government.
These reports view Iraq as a strategic arena for countering Iranian influence, not only militarily but also financially, particularly by regulating the banking system and preventing Iraq from being used as a conduit to circumvent US sanctions on Tehran. This makes the issue of the dollar and financial transfers a pivotal part of the conditions for any future partnership.
According to estimates, al-Zaidi has not yet faced direct opposition from either Washington or Tehran, making him a more conciliatory candidate than a confrontational one. However, this flexibility could quickly turn into pressure if he fails to curb the influence of the factions or demonstrates a clear inclination towards the Iranian axis. LINK
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Clare: Press Release
Economic Fury Targets Iranian Shadow Banking Networks Moving Billions in Foreign Currency
May 1, 2026
WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating three Iranian foreign currency exchange houses and their associated front companies as part of Economic Fury and Treasury’s ongoing efforts to disrupt the Iranian regime’s financial lifelines that sustain its war effort.
Collectively, Iranian exchange houses facilitate billions of dollars in foreign currency transactions each year. Because Iran primarily settles its oil sales in Chinese yuan, these exchange houses play a critical role in converting oil revenues into currencies that are more readily useable by the Iranian military and its partners and proxies.
“Iran is the head of the snake for global terrorism, and under President Trump’s leadership, Treasury is moving aggressively, through Economic Fury, to sever the Iranian military’s financial lifelines,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “We will relentlessly target the regime’s ability to generate, move, and repatriate funds, and pursue anyone enabling Tehran’s attempts to evade sanctions.”
Today’s action is being taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13902, which targets persons operating in Iran’s financial sector. These designations build on OFAC’s previous actions targeting Iran’s shadow banking mechanisms, including exchange houses, Iranian bank rahbar companies, and digital asset exchanges used to evade sanctions.
Today’s designations further disrupt the Iranian regime’s mechanisms for receiving payments for oil and other commodities, thereby increasing costs and reducing revenue for the regime’s destabilizing activities, and exposing individuals and the methods the Iranian regime uses to bypass sanctions and abuse the international financial system.
This action is in furtherance of the President’s National Security Presidential Memorandum 2 (NSPM-2), which undergirds Treasury’s continued campaign of maximum economic pressure against Iran’s shadow banking, money laundering, and sanctions evasion networks. Since February 2025, OFAC has sanctioned more than 1,000 Iran-related persons, vessels, and aircraft as part of this campaign.
Iranian exchange houses
The Iranian regime’s shadow banking networks handle tens of billions of dollars’ worth of trade each year, much of it derived from Iran’s overseas sales of oil and petrochemicals. The rahbar networks that coordinate these transactions on behalf of sanctioned Iranian banks rely on Iranian currency-exchange houses and their agents.
Unlike rahbar companies, which are directly linked to, and work on behalf of, a specific sanctioned Iranian bank, these exchange houses often facilitate transactions for multiple different Iranian banking and petroleum export customers. They also have their own networks of foreign-based front companies that use their foreign commercial bank accounts to facilitate transactions in various currencies worth billions of dollars on behalf of sanctioned Iranian persons, including the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), exporters such as Iran’s National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), and Iran’s military and security bodies.
Pedram Pirouzan and Associates Partnership Company, more commonly referred to as Opal Exchange or Pedram Pirouzan Exchange, is a leading sanctions-evasion facilitator owned and operated by Iranian national Pedram Pirouzan.
Opal Exchange maintains an extensive network of front companies that provide critical support to the Iranian importers and exporters that form the financial lifeline of Iranian banks and the regime more broadly. Many of Opal Exchange’s front companies are registered directly under the names of Pedram Pirouzan and his partner, Hossein Mohammad Rezaei, both of whom conceal their Iranian backgrounds when setting up front companies by listing their Dominica citizenship, obtained via investment, on registration documents.
This allows them to set up companies and bank accounts in foreign jurisdictions with access to the international financial system, further concealing the fact that their commercial activities ultimately benefit sanctioned Iranian persons. Masoud Mohammad Rezaei serves as a board member and official of Opal Exchange.
Read full post here: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0483
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Courtesy of Dinar Guru: https://www.dinarguru.com/
Jeff The prime minister doesn't have to complete all of his cabinet, he has to complete the majority. That news came out...a day or two ago. He can submit the majority of his cabinet for approval in parliament. It doesn't have to be 100%.
Frank26 [Iraq boots-on-the-ground report] OMAR: USA Trump congratulated Zaidi and gave him his full support. He even invited the new prime minister to come to Washington DC once the government is completed. They had a very good call. FRANK: Trump is working with your guy because your guy is working with Trump. This is what we need, security and stability.
Ariel What UAE did with OPEC and what Iraq is about to do along with Iran are not separate incidents but a coordinated progression towards a unified goal for currency revaluation. Especially after the IMF report that came out requesting that Iraq support their national currency with gold. (May 1st is shaping up to be a huge historical day for multiple countries.) ... Revaluation Support: A gold-backed dinar can hold a much higher exchange rate without collapsing back down.
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The Biggest Banking Change in 100 Years is About to Hit Your Wallet
Daniela Cambone: 5-1-2026
A massive shift out of traditional banks into gold-backed crypto and stablecoins could trigger the biggest bank run in a century, warns Garrett Goggin.
“The US financial system used to be supported by the financial ministers of the G7... now it's being decentralized to millions of end users using Tether Dollar.”