Iran to Resume Gas Flows to Iraq after Agreement on Unpaid Bills

A general view of Nahr al-Umran gas refinery in al-Dier district, northern Basra, Iraq, July 17, 2009. (Reuters)
A general view of Nahr al-Umran gas refinery in al-Dier district, northern Basra, Iraq, July 17, 2009. (Reuters)
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Iran to Resume Gas Flows to Iraq after Agreement on Unpaid Bills

A general view of Nahr al-Umran gas refinery in al-Dier district, northern Basra, Iraq, July 17, 2009. (Reuters)
A general view of Nahr al-Umran gas refinery in al-Dier district, northern Basra, Iraq, July 17, 2009. (Reuters)

Iran will resume normal gas flows to Iraq on Wednesday after reaching an agreement with Iraq on Tuesday over unpaid bills, a spokesman for Iraq's electricity ministry said.

Iran's state gas company said on Monday it had slashed supplies to neighboring Iraq over arrears of more than $6 billion. The Iraqi electricity ministry said the cuts placed Baghdad and other cities at risk of serious power shortages.

An agreement was reached during a meeting between Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian, who is visiting Baghdad, and Iraqi counterpart Majid Mahdi to resume normal gas flow rates as of Wednesday evening, spokesman Ahmed Moussa told Reuters.

"Meeting ended with resolving lingering issues and gas flow would be resumed to reach normal rates gradually," he said.

Iran's electricity minister also met with Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and conveyed the Iranian government's pledge to "urgently resume gas pumping which had been slashed recently after technical problems", a statement from the prime minister's office cited Iran's minister as saying without giving details.

It was not clear if a specific deal over arrears had been concluded with Tehran to pay the delayed bills.

But a senior member of the Iran-Iraq chamber of commerce said Tehran had accepted a barter deal and would receive goods as part of the arrears.

"Iran has bought goods for part of Iraq's debt..., which will arrive in the country in the next few days," Hamid Hoseini told the official Iranian news agency IRNA.

Iraq said on Dec. 21 it was ready to export 700,000 tons of barley to Iran at a price of $125 per ton as part of payments owed by the Iraqi government to Iran.

An Iraqi trade ministry official said on Tuesday the barley export shipments to Iran, in addition to other goods will be used to pay back for part of the delayed gas debts.

Iran has been unable to access billions of dollars in assets in several countries due to US sanctions.

The United States has insisted that oil-rich Iraq, OPEC's second-largest producer, moves towards self-sufficiency as a condition for its exemption to import Iranian energy, yet Baghdad has struggled to do so, in part due to low oil prices.



Türkiye Backs Sharaa’s Stability Efforts, Erdogan Says amid Syrian Violence

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at the Malaysia-Türkiye Business Forum during his working visit to Malaysia, in Putrajaya, Malaysia, February 11, 2025. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at the Malaysia-Türkiye Business Forum during his working visit to Malaysia, in Putrajaya, Malaysia, February 11, 2025. (Reuters)
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Türkiye Backs Sharaa’s Stability Efforts, Erdogan Says amid Syrian Violence

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at the Malaysia-Türkiye Business Forum during his working visit to Malaysia, in Putrajaya, Malaysia, February 11, 2025. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at the Malaysia-Türkiye Business Forum during his working visit to Malaysia, in Putrajaya, Malaysia, February 11, 2025. (Reuters)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Türkiye was advising Syrian authorities to help ease tensions and welcomed interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa's commitment to punishing those who acted outside the law.

"Sharaa is pursuing an inclusive policy without falling into the trap of revanchism. Continuing this approach will thwart the games being played against Syria," Erdogan said after a cabinet meeting in Ankara.

Erdogan's political opponents have urged him to use his influence over Syrian leaders to curb the violence that erupted in the neighboring country in recent days.

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) called for an international peacekeeping force to maintain security in western Syria, just south of Türkiye, if the government could not ensure civilian safety there.

Clashes between loyalists of deposed President Bashar al-Assad and the country's new rulers have killed scores of people in Assad's coastal heartland in recent days, according to a war monitoring group.

Türkiye, the strongest foreign backer of Sharaa, has condemned the violence and reiterated its support for the interim president.

The instability could damage Ankara's hopes of ending a decades-old conflict with Kurdish militants, some based in Syria, and possibly slow a flow of Syrians returning home from Türkiye in recent months after 13 years of war in Syria.

"Türkiye must take initiatives with the Damascus administration and make the necessary efforts to prevent such incidents from happening," Ali Mahir Basarir, a senior CHP lawmaker, said during a visit to the border province of Hatay.

"The escalation of clashes represents a major risk for Türkiye," he added.

Visiting Jordan at the weekend, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Türkiye was determined to assist the Syrian government in every way and support stabilization efforts.

Sharaa has vowed to catch those responsible for the killings, and Syria's defense ministry announced on Monday the completion of military operations against the remnants of Assad's forces.

Relative calm followed Assad's ousting in December. Syrian security sources said over the weekend more than 300 of their members had been killed in clashes with former army personnel owing allegiance to Assad in coordinated attacks and ambushes on their forces that began on Thursday.

Türkiye has backed anti-Assad Syrian forces for years and maintains bases in Syria's north. Its defense ministry said there was no surge in deployments late last week, after sources in Syria said more armored vehicles had crossed the border.

"We see that certain sectarian and ethnic provocations are being used by certain groups through proxy forces," Omer Celik, the spokesman for Erdogan's ruling AK Party, said on Sunday.