صراط عشق صراط عشق
Iraq has agreed to pay about $2.76 billion in gas and electricity debt to Iran after receiving a sanctions waiver from the United States, a senior Iraqi foreign ministry official said.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein was given the clearance during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the Riyadh Conference on Thursday, the foreign ministry source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, told Reuters.
Due to decades of conflict and sanctions, Iraq is dependent on imports from Iran for a lot of its gas needs.
However, U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil and gas have hampered Iraq’s payments for imports, putting it in heavy arrears.
Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ahmed al-Sahhaf said in a brief statement that Hussein had made progress “regarding financial dues between Iraq and Iran during his discussion with his American counterpart in Riyadh” when asked about the funds.
Yahya Al-e Eshaq, head of the Iran-Iraq chamber of commerce, was quoted by Iranian news agencies as saying that “Part of Iran’s blocked funds in Iraq has been earmarked for hajj pilgrims and portions have been used for basic goods.”
The Iraqi foreign ministry source said that the funds will be transferred through the Commercial Bank of Iraq and confirmed that the money will be used for Iranian pilgrims’ expenses and foodstuffs imported by Iran.
Iran has been unable to access billions of dollars in assets in several countries due to U.S. sanctions.
Iraq built in the last 10 years two pipelines to import gas to operate its gas-fired power plants, according to Ahmed Moussa, a spokesman for the electricity ministry. The country needs between 55 million and 60 million cubic meters per day. Moussa said in an interview with Bloomberg that Iraq owes Iran around $11 billion.
Iraq has paid Iran €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) since the formation of current Iraq Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani’s government last October, said Dhiyaa al-Naseri, an adviser to Sudani, in a phone interview. Another €1 billion is being released, al-Naseri said.
