Iraq is facing aggravated electricity shortage after the US cuts exemptions linked to Iran’s gas and electricity imports.
The US has ended its sanctions exemption that allows Iraq to purchase electricity from nearby Iran, in line with President Donald Trump’s policy of exercising “maximum pressure” on Tehran.
In a statement released Sunday, the US State Department said the decision not to renew the exemption was “not to allow Iran’s economic or financial relief.”
Such a waiver was introduced in 2018 when Washington reimposed sanctions against Tehran after President Trump abandoned the nuclear deal with Iran that he negotiated under President Barack Obama. At the time, Trump wiped out our sanctions on other countries that bought Iranian oil. The exemption was extended to Iraq as a “key partner” in the US.
Since returning to the White House for his second term as US president in January, Trump has revived his policy of exerting “maximum pressure” on Iran.
“The president’s maximum pressure campaign is designed to end Iran’s nuclear threat, reduce ballistic missile programs and stop supporting terrorist groups,” a spokesman for the US embassy in Baghdad said on Sunday. The spokesman urged Baghdad to “eliminate Iran’s dependence on energy sources as soon as possible.”
That’s not an easy task. Despite its oil and gas wealth, Iraq suffers from decades of power shortages due to war, corruption and mismanagement, relying heavily on imported Iranian gas and electricity imported directly from Iran to meet its electricity needs.
Three Iraqi energy officials who spoke with Reuters said there is no immediate alternative to compensate for energy imported from Iran. Many Iraqis need to resort to diesel generators or suffer temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) for several summer months.
The expiry exemption was applied to direct electricity imports. It remains unclear whether Iraq will be able to continue importing gas from Iran for its power plant.
The US embassy claimed that electricity imports from Iran were only 4% of Iraq’s electricity consumption.
But a spokesman for Iraqi’s power ministry, Ahmad Musa, said the government is looking for alternatives as “Iraq will lose more than 30% of its electricity energy” if it also bans gas imports.
Mussa said Iranian gas has stopped supplying power plants in Baghdad and the Central Euphrates region for the past two months, and supply to power plants in the southern part of the country has been unstable.
A senior power department official told The Associated Press that the department has not yet officially notified the US decision on gas imports.
“Bullying”
The US administration’s decision to remove the exemption comes two days after Trump said he wrote a letter to Iranian leaders trying to launch talks on the nuclear deal. The US president warned about the possibility of military action if Iran did not succumb.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he would not negotiate with “bullies” who are interested in the terms they will be imposed, rather than launching negotiations.
Still, Iran’s mission to the United Nations on Sunday suggests that Tehran willingly discuss certain issues, but not the complete end of its nuclear program.
“If the purpose of the negotiations is to address concerns about the potential militarization of Iran’s nuclear program, such discussions could be considered,” the mission statement said.
“However, if the objective is to dismantle Iran’s peaceful nuclear program to claim that what Obama was unable to achieve has now been achieved, then such negotiations will never be held.”
The Landmark 2015 nuclear deal, which Obama helped negotiate between Tehran and the great powers, has pledged sanctions relief in return for restraining Iran’s nuclear program.
Tehran, denied seeking nuclear weapons, initially stuck to the nuclear deal after Trump retracted it, but later rewind its commitment. US officials estimate that if Iran chooses it will take just a few weeks to build a nuclear bomb.
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