Political Strategic Studies

Analyzing the Impacts of Secondary Sanctions on Iran’s Gas Supply Chain to Iraq: Examining the Iranian Energy Prohibition Act and Its Implications for Energy Security in West Asia

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Amir Hossein Ghasemi 1
Amir Mohammad Moghani 2
Abbas Maleki 3

1 MS in Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

2 Ph.D. student of energy governance, Faculty of Governance, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

3 Professor of Energy Policy, Faculty of Energy Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

10.22054/qpss.2026.91720.3750
Abstract
U.S. secondary sanctions and the proposed “Iranian Energy Ban Act” could subject Iran–Iraq gas cooperation and the supply of fuel to Iraqi power plants to new restrictions. This study examines the implications of restricting or eliminating the exemption for Iranian natural gas for Iraq’s energy security and the gas relations between the two countries. Drawing on the networked energy security framework and the literature on secondary sanctions, the study employs a Qualitative Document Analysis. To this end, U.S. legal and executive sanctions documents from the 1990s to the present, including sanctions legislation, executive orders, and the proposed “Iranian Energy Ban Act,” were examined. The findings indicate that extending sanctions to Iranian natural gas could increase the risk of fuel shortages for Iraqi power plants and Iraq’s vulnerability to disruptions in gas imports. Secondary sanctions could also make cooperation by companies and investors in gas projects more difficult by increasing legal and financial risks. At the regional level, this situation could constrain Iran’s bargaining power in the gas sector while strengthening the United States’ leverage over Iraq. However, the severity of these impacts depends on how the sanctions are implemented, whether exemptions remain in place, and Iraq’s access to alternative sources.

Keywords

Energy Security
Secondary Sanctions
West Asia
Gas Supply Chain
Iran
Subjects
Political Strategic Studies

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 03 November 2026

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