Thursday, March 28, 2024

Baghdad

Electricity supply to Iraq cut as contract expired: Iran

 Electricity supply to Iraq cut as contract expired: Iran

An Iraqi electricity station.

An Iraqi electricity station.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iran has said it halted electricity supplies to Iraq as the contract between both countries had expired, but failing to explain whether Iraqi debts related to the deal were a factor.

Arash Kurdi, CEO at Iranian government-owned company Tawanir, was quoted by Fars news agency on Tuesday as saying that supplies to Iraq were halted as the contract governing the deal expired and needed amendments before proceeding. He said changes to the contract should take into consideration the changing currency rates.

Though Iraqi electricity officials were quoted as saying that the supply halt was carried out without prior notification, Kurdi stressed that his company had notified the Iraqi side earlier that the contract was nearing its expiry date, and that delegations from the company were sent to Iraq to discuss the matter.

The 2005 agreement involves supplies from Tehran at nearly 1.5 to 2 thousand megawatts of electricity to Baghdad.

Iraqi electricity ministry spokesperson Mosaad al-Modares said Monday Tehran took the measure after Iraqi debts pertaining to the deal had reached US$1 billion. But Kurdi declined to go into details at that point, and only assured that means to settle Iraqi debts would be discussed by both sides.

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