BAGHDAD —
Iraq has failed to pay $1.6
billion owed to neighboring Iran for gas imports, a debt needed to guarantee
further supplies critical to prevent worsening power cuts, Baghdad’s
authorities said Wednesday.
اضافة اعلان
Payment of the debt was a key requirement to ensure
energy supplies for Iraq’s power plants during the intense heat of the upcoming
summer months, when electricity demands surge as people seek to keep cool.
“Iran had demanded the payment by Iraq of its
financial obligations for the payment of the gas,” Iraq’s electricity ministry
said in a statement.
However, due to “the delay in the adoption of the budget”,
as well as parliamentary blockages stalling a bill aimed to guarantee debt
payments in the electricity sector, this led to “delays”.
Supplies have already been reduced by 5 million
cubic meters of gas per day, limiting the operation of the power stations and
“reducing the hours of electricity supply”, the ministry added.
Despite its immense
oil and gas reserves, Iraq
remains dependent on imports to meet its energy needs.
Iran currently provides a third of Iraq’s gas and
electricity needs, but supplies are regularly cut or reduced, aggravating daily
load shedding.
The electricity ministry stressed the “efforts of
parliament and the government” to allow the ministry to “find compromise
solutions with Iran in order to pay the arrears and guarantee the supply of
gas”.
The debt, which was due to have been paid by the
start of June, dates back to 2020.
It was stalled amid sanctions against Iran by the
US, which mean that Baghdad cannot pay directly for energy imports in cash.
Instead, it must be used in a complicated process to
buy goods from the agriculture or pharmaceutical sectors.
Last year, when temperatures in Iraq soared to 52°C
in the shade, swathes of the country suffered blackouts, sparking several
sporadic protests and prompting the electricity minister to resign.
Iraq is already sweltering, with temperatures
climbing to 48°C on Thursday, according to the meteorological service.
Ranked as one of the world’s five most vulnerable
nations to climate change effects, Iraq has seen a series of sandstorms sweep
the country in recent months, sending thousands of people to hospital with
respiratory problems.
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