Iran has cut a substantial amount of natural gas supplies to Iraq, as the delay in setting a budget by the Iraqi federal government has impeded Baghdad’s ability to repay over a billion dollars’ worth of debts owed to Tehran.
“Due to reducing five million cubic meters of imported Iranian gas, this has led to the necessity of limiting the system’s loads, and therefore has been a reason for reducing hours of electricity power supplied,” read a statement from the ministry on Wednesday.
The statement added that the recent development is an additional motivation for the ministry to continue communications with Iran, in hopes of reaching a compromise that will satisfy both sides without leading to a decline in the quality of power provided, or harming the interests of the Iraqi people.
In April, Iran agreed to resume natural gas supplies to Iraq, under the condition that Baghdad repays debts owed to Tehran for previous rounds of gas supply.
Acting Electricity Minister Adil Karim said in April that Baghdad owes Tehran 1.69 billion dollars, adding that the latter is responsible for a minimum of 30 percent of Iraq’s energy.
Yahya al-Ishaq the head of Iran and Iraq’s Joint Chamber of Commerce, told Iranian media on Saturday that Tehran expects to export over $9 billion worth of goods to Baghdad by March next year.
Iraq suffers from chronic electricity shortages, especially felt when summer temperatures reach over 50 degrees Celsius. The high temperatures also lead to a very high consumption of power.
Iran cut its gas exports to Iraq last summer as well, leading to blackouts across the neighboring country.
Iraq expects to receive 55 million cubic feet of gas from Iran starting May 1, more than double the 25 million it receives at the moment, Karim said in April.
