The United States on Tuesday moved to let Iraq pay Iran for electricity via non-Iraqi banks, a US official said, a step Washington hopes may keep Tehran from forcing unpopular power cuts during the Iraqi summer, according to Reuters.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed a 120-day national security waiver allowing Iraq - heavily dependent on Iranian electricity - to deposit such payments into non-Iraqi banks in third countries instead of into restricted accounts in Iraq, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The US had granted previous governments since the government of Haider al-Abadi a period of 120 days to pay for its purchases from Iran, including gas, in US dollars. While Iraq continues to heavily depend on imported Iranian gas, Washington permitted Iraq to pay the Iranian debts under the governments of Adel Abdul Mahdi and Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
The summer temperature and the Iranian and American procedures have worsened the condition in Iraq. Iran halted its gas supply to Iraq in the peak of heat, meanwhile, Iraqis complained about the dual US-Iranian sanction on Iraq.
Iran had halted its gas supply to Iraq because the latter didn’t pay its debts. When Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced the oil in return for the gas policy, Iran resumed gas supply that was halted for technical and not financial reasons, according to an Iranian official.
The US decision serves the interest of Iraq and Iran as well. No official approval was announced but experts and observers said that the US is likely to provide new support to the government of Sudani.
In this context, a professor of Mass Communication at the Iraqi University, Dr. Fadel Al Badrani, said Sudani has probably taken US approval before trading oil for Iranian gas to maintain electricity.
It is a temporary step to avoid a crisis, proving the US support to the government of Sudani, according to Badrani.
He added that the US exemption to Iraq for 120 days represents the support to Baghdad to overcome the electricity crisis during summer, but the condition to transfer funds to non-Iraqi banks proves that Washington sticks to its firm stance toward Tehran.
Iraqi Electricity Minister Ziad Ali Fadel confirmed on Wednesday that the ministry has not received any official directive on allowing Iraq to pay dues for Iranian gas.
"The issue of the United States allowing Iraq to pay dues for Iranian gas for 120 days was published in the media only and we have not received anything official," Fadel told the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
"There are reserved amounts belonging to the Iranian side and they are paid either with money or through oil," he added.
"If the United States gives consent to the payment of dues, it is possible to spend part of it money and the other part fuel," the minister said.
