Iraqi shoppers stand at the cashier counter of an electronics store in Basra on September 21, 2026. Iraq imports most of its goods, from food and medicine to electronics and natural gas. Prices have surged and the Iraqi dinar has fluctuated. Foreign currency reserves fell by $20 billion, according to the government official. (Photo by HUSSEIN FALEH / AFP via Getty Images)

A US dollar currency note is pictured at the counting machine inside an electronics store in Basra on September 21, 2026. Iran had announced a special exemption for Iraqi tankers in late August, while the US says it has recently managed to boost Gulf exports through a secure Hormuz corridor hugging the Omani coast. Nonetheless, the economic fallout is evident. Prices have surged and the Iraqi dinar has fluctuated. Foreign currency reserves fell by $20 billion, according to the government official. Iraq relies heavily on foreign currency from oil sales to pay civil servants, finance imports and stabilise the dinar. (Photo by HUSSEIN FALEH / AFP via Getty Images)

This photograph shows the Iranian-flagged cargo ship Nora Bandar Abbas docked at the port of Umm Qasr in southern Iraq on September 17, 2026. Basra has long been a key cog in Iraq's economy but, after months of Iran choking off Gulf oil exports with its blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, the city is suffering. Fuel trucks stand idle and workers face pay cuts and lay-offs. Many Basra residents have lost their jobs or taken heavy pay cuts as private contractors, as oil fields and the Umm Qasr cargo port scale back operations. Crude oil exports account for almost 90 percent of Iraq's foreign revenue, and are primarily shipped through Hormuz via the cluster of facilities around Basra, the country's only gateway to the Gulf. (Photo by HUSSEIN FALEH / AFP via Getty Images)

This photograph shows the bulk carrier Bluex docked at the port of Umm Qasr in southern Iraq on September 17, 2026. Basra has long been a key cog in Iraq's economy but, after months of Iran choking off Gulf oil exports with its blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, the city is suffering. Fuel trucks stand idle and workers face pay cuts and lay-offs. Many Basra residents have lost their jobs or taken heavy pay cuts as private contractors, as oil fields and the Umm Qasr cargo port scale back operations. Crude oil exports account for almost 90 percent of Iraq's foreign revenue, and are primarily shipped through Hormuz via the cluster of facilities around Basra, the country's only gateway to the Gulf. (Photo by Hussein FALEH / AFP via Getty Images)

Shipping containers are stacked at the port of Umm Qasr in southern Iraq on September 17, 2026. Basra has long been a key cog in Iraq's economy but, after months of Iran choking off Gulf oil exports with its blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, the city is suffering. Fuel trucks stand idle and workers face pay cuts and lay-offs. Many Basra residents have lost their jobs or taken heavy pay cuts as private contractors, as oil fields and the Umm Qasr cargo port scale back operations. Crude oil exports account for almost 90 percent of Iraq's foreign revenue, and are primarily shipped through Hormuz via the cluster of facilities around Basra, the country's only gateway to the Gulf. (Photo by Hussein FALEH / AFP via Getty Images)

Captain Salem Hussein, the head of Umm Qasr port's northern sector, stands next to a commercial vessel docked at the port in southern Iraq on September 17, 2026. Basra has long been a key cog in Iraq's economy but, after months of Iran choking off Gulf oil exports with its blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, the city is suffering. Fuel trucks stand idle and workers face pay cuts and lay-offs. Many Basra residents have lost their jobs or taken heavy pay cuts as private contractors, as oil fields and the Umm Qasr cargo port scale back operations. Crude oil exports account for almost 90 percent of Iraq's foreign revenue, and are primarily shipped through Hormuz via the cluster of facilities around Basra, the country's only gateway to the Gulf. (Photo by Hussein FALEH / AFP via Getty Images)

A worker walks towards stacks of shipping containers at the port of Umm Qasr in southern Iraq on September 17, 2026. Basra has long been a key cog in Iraq's economy but, after months of Iran choking off Gulf oil exports with its blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, the city is suffering. Fuel trucks stand idle and workers face pay cuts and lay-offs. Many Basra residents have lost their jobs or taken heavy pay cuts as private contractors, as oil fields and the Umm Qasr cargo port scale back operations. Crude oil exports account for almost 90 percent of Iraq's foreign revenue, and are primarily shipped through Hormuz via the cluster of facilities around Basra, the country's only gateway to the Gulf. (Photo by Hussein FALEH / AFP via Getty Images)

This photograph shows the Iranian-flagged cargo ship Nora Bandar Abbas docked at the port of Umm Qasr in southern Iraq on September 17, 2026. Basra has long been a key cog in Iraq's economy but, after months of Iran choking off Gulf oil exports with its blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, the city is suffering. Fuel trucks stand idle and workers face pay cuts and lay-offs. Many Basra residents have lost their jobs or taken heavy pay cuts as private contractors, as oil fields and the Umm Qasr cargo port scale back operations. Crude oil exports account for almost 90 percent of Iraq's foreign revenue, and are primarily shipped through Hormuz via the cluster of facilities around Basra, the country's only gateway to the Gulf. (Photo by Hussein FALEH / AFP via Getty Images)