Iraq's gas imports from Iran were completely halted on Wednesday, authorities said, the latest blow to the country's battered economy reeling from the impact of the Middle East war.
The country has been unwillingly drawn into the conflict triggered by the US-Israel attack on its neighbor Iran on February 28.
The cutoff came as Baghdad had barely had time to celebrate a deal to export a fraction of its oil production through Türkiye after disruptions to shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
Ahmed Moussa told the Iraqi News Agency (INA) that "due to regional developments, Iranian gas supplies to Iraq completely halted an hour ago," cutting about 3,100 megawatts of power, which will "certainly affect the grid".
He sought, however, to calm fears of more frequent blackouts, saying the ministry will instead use "alternative fuels and domestic gas reserves".
News of the gas stoppage came after Tehran denounced a US-Israeli strike on Iranian facilities exploiting the vast South Pars/North Dome gas field.
Despite its abundant oil and gas reserves, Iraq's power plants are highly dependent on gas imported from Iran, which supplies about a third of the country's needs.
Electricity shortages are already a frequent complaint in Iraq, which suffers from endemic corruption and dilapidated public infrastructure.
Most households rely on private generators to compensate for daily power cuts.
Early Wednesday, Iraq said it resumed oil exports from its fields in the northern province of Kirkuk in agreement with the autonomous Kurdistan Region, through which the pipeline to Türkiye's port of Ceyhan runs.
But it will export 250,000 barrels per day (bpd), only a fraction of the 3.5 million before the war.
However, Iraq, whose crude sales make up 90 percent of its foreign revenue, had few options after Iran effectively shuttered the Strait of Hormuz, through which Iraq previously shipped most of its oil from the southern Basra fields.
- Fighters killed -
The impact of the war is not solely economic. Strikes have targeted Iran-backed groups, which in turn have claimed daily attacks on US interests in Iraq and across the region.
A strike near Iraq's western border with Syria on Wednesday killed three fighters from the former paramilitary coalition Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), the alliance said.
The fighters from the alliance -- now part of Iraq's regular armed forces -- were hit in an US or Israeli strike that targeted their main command center in Anbar province.
Pro-Iran factions have also brigades that operate within the alliance, but have a reputation for acting on their own.
On Wednesday morning, an AFP journalist reported at least four explosions in the city of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region.
It was unclear what the target was, and the projectiles were intercepted over the city, home to a major US consulate complex, while its airport houses US-led coalition troops.
Kurdish armed forces also reported that three soldiers were wounded in drone attacks on their positions in Erbil and the city of Sulaimaniyah.
