AhlulBayt News Agency: Iraqi authorities have stated that US sanctions on Iran have blocked their access to gas supplies from Turkmenistan.
Ahmad Musa, spokesman for Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity, reported that these sanctions have restricted Iraq’s ability to receive electricity and gas from Iran, including supplies from Turkmenistan that were supposed to be delivered through Iranian pipelines.
Speaking to the Iraqi News Agency (INA) on Sunday, Musa explained that the restrictions have resulted in a loss of nearly 5 gigawatts (GW) of Iraq’s electricity generation capacity this summer, reducing the expected total from 27 GW.
Due to US sanctions, Iraq has been unable to compensate Iran for transit fees related to Turkmenistan’s gas supply, leading to a shortfall of 4 GW in electricity production.
Under a gas swap agreement signed last year between Iran, Iraq, and Turkmenistan, Iraq was set to receive up to 20 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas per day via Iranian pipelines.
Musa added that restrictions on direct electricity imports from Iran have further disrupted Iraq’s power supply, resulting in a loss of 1 GW.
Iran provides Iraq with up to 50 mcm of natural gas and 1 GW of electricity daily.
In March, the United States revoked a waiver from its Iran sanctions that had allowed Iraq to pay for imported electricity from its eastern neighbor.
However, Iraq continues to receive natural gas imports under a long-standing US waiver, as Iranian gas accounts for 43% of its power plant electricity generation.
Additionally, direct electricity imports from Iran fulfill nearly 10% of Iraq’s total domestic energy needs.
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