The Trump Administration made it perfectly clear: no more waivers on Iranian sanctions. No exceptions.

"We're going to zero. We're going to zero across the board," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters after the White House made the announcement in a statement. "There are no (oil) waivers that extend beyond that period, full stop," he said, adding that there would be no grace period for those economies to comply.

Got it? No exceptions. This is about values and principles. This is about Iranian terrorism (or some such nonsense).

Wait a sec. What happened to 'no more waivers, no exceptions'?
Well, ya see, a funny thing happened along the way.

Iraq will soon finalize a large-scale, long-term deal for the development of oil fields in the South with Exxon and PetroChina. The 30-year contract will involve investments of US$53 billion and potential returns for Baghdad of as much as US$400 billion over its lifetime, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi told media this week.

I know what you are thinking, but I am here to tell you conclusively that the timing is all a coincidence. Billions of dollars in Exxon profits have no effect on our foreign policy decisions.

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said on Tuesday there was no link between an initial oil agreement his government was about to sign with Exxon Mobil and its receipt of waivers from the United States exempting it from sanctions on Iran.

There you go. A deeply corrupt Iraqi politician denies that the two events are related. What more proof do you want?