Iran purchases Iraqi goods in exchange for exporting electricity, Officials

Speaking to ILNA economic correspondent on Saturday, the member of the Chamber of Commerce said Iran will not be able to withdraw the money but will be able to use it to purchase goods from Iraq.

He further explained “Iraq imports around 1,500 MW of electricity and 30 million cubic meters of gas for power stations from Iran,” adding that Iraqis do not pay us any money for the gas they import and all the money is now in the account of the Tejarat Bank of Iraq.

The spokesman of the Union for Exporting Oil Products said "Following the US sanctions, some arrangements have been taken to use the blocked money in the central bank's account in another way."

“The central bank has announced its readiness to allocate the money to buy goods from Iraq,” Hamid Hosseini added.

Iraq has always been a customer of more than eighty percent of Iran's electricity exports.

On May 7, shortly after new Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi received confirmation from parliament, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the new premier and told him that Washington will move forward with a 120-day waiver to allow Iraq to import electricity from Iran.

Iraq is still Iran’s most loyal business partner despite hurdles imposed by sanctions, protests, the coronavirus crisis, and — most importantly of all — the United States’ continuous pressure on Baghdad to try to get it to drop out of the deals to buy Iranian electricity and gas.

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