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.

Crypto is the only option at the moment. Along with Payoneer, nothing else works for Iraqis.