Ahmad Musa, a spokesman for Iraq’s Ministry of Power, said on Sunday that US sanctions on Iran restrict Iraq’s power supply and access to gas supplies from Turkmenistan, which was supposed to arrive in the Arab state via Iran’s pipeline.
Musa told Iraq News Agency (INA) that the restrictions have caused Iraq to lose nearly five gigawatts of its power generation capacity this summer.
He said Iraq was unable to compensate for transportation fees related to gas supply from Turkmenistan due to US sanctions.
Under the gas exchange agreement signed last year between Iran, Iraq and Turkmenistan, Arab countries were to receive up to 20 million cubic meters per day (MCM) per day via Iran’s pipeline.
Musa said restrictions on direct electricity imports from Iran also disrupt the 1 GW of Iraq’s power source.
Iran supplies Iraq with up to 50 mcm of natural gas and 1 GW of electricity every day.
The US announced in early March that it had revoked its exemption from Iran’s sanctions, which could pay for electricity imports from Iraq’s neighbors.
This means that Iraq still has a long-standing US exemption for importing natural gas from Iran, as Arab countries rely on Iran’s gas for 43% of the power plant’s generation.
Direct electricity imports from Iran account for up to 10% of Iraq’s domestic demand.
MNA/