U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is piling pressure on Iraq to allow Kurdish oil exports to restart or face sanctions alongside Iran, eight sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Kurdistan is set to resume oil exports by the end of March following a two-year halt due to a dispute with the Iraqi government.

The president of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region signaled the likely resumption of oil exports next month, the latest optimism that an almost two-year shutdown that cost the nation some $19 billion in lost revenue could soon be over.

Oil exports from Iraq’s Kurdistan region are set to resume next week, ending a nearly two-year dispute over Kurdish crude shipments, Iraq’s Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani said on Monday. An Iraqi Oil ministry delegation will visit Erbil on Tuesday to discuss transferring 300,