It's highly likely that payments to Middle East are actively tracked. Because "terrsts" /s. So people may be reluctant to enter into business dealings.
It's 100x more difficult than you think it is. I come from a "semi-sanctioned" country, and it's extremely hard. Opening a bank account is impossible unless you can travel to the US. Stripe won't touch you with a 100 foot pole.
I can't even imagine how hard it would be from Iraq, even if it's currently "not sanctioned" in theory.