BAGHDAD (Dispatches) – International oil companies operating in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq have decided to pause production effective immediately, Iraqi officials and regional industry sources have confirmed, citing escalating violence linked to U.S. military operations in the region.
The decision came as Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi continued his first official trip to the United States. The visit has seen Iraq strike dozens of deals ranging from actual contracts to memorandums of understanding with American companies, most of them in the oil sector. 
A key demand from the Trump administration is for Baghdad to provide security guarantees for U.S. companies operating inside Iraq.
The production halt follows Friday’s Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks in Jordan, which U.S. Central Command confirmed killed two U.S. service members and left one missing. 
The strikes were reportedly in response to ongoing U.S. military aggressions in the region, highlighting how Washington’s aggressive posture has exposed its own interests to retaliation. 
Critics argue that the presence of U.S. military forces and American companies in the region has made them legitimate targets in the broader war, which has seen the U.S. repeatedly bomb targets in Iraq, Syria and Yemen without any mandate from international law.
Western oil fields have been targeted in the past, but observers note these attacks are direct consequences of the U.S. military presence in Iraq and its continued support for Israel’s war on Gaza and Lebanon. 
The decision to pause production reflects growing unease among international firms about their vulnerability to being caught in a conflict that Washington has relentlessly escalated through its unconditional backing of Israel’s military campaigns and its own airstrikes across the region.
In March, Texas-based HKN was forced to halt production after Kataib Hezbollah struck the group’s field in the Sarsang area in Dohuk province. That incident, like the current production pause, illustrates the pattern of instability that has followed the U.S. occupation of Iraq. 
The U.S. maintains a military footprint in Iraq and Syria that it claims is for counterterrorism purposes, but which regional actors view as an occupying force that must be resisted.
The timing of the production halt underscores the risks of the Iraqi government’s deepening economic entanglement with Washington. Baghdad’s pursuit of oil deals with American companies has come at the expense of its own national sovereignty, as the Trump administration demands security guarantees that effectively place Iraq in a subordinate position. 
Critics say Iraq’s leaders have allowed themselves to be used as a platform for U.S. interests while receiving little in return besides promises of economic support.