Shafaq News / The Iranian Minister of Energy commented, on Tuesday, on the Iraqi-Saudi project to be pursued to supply Baghdad with electricity, considering it "unbelievable", confirming that his country secures about half of the electricity consumption in Iraq.

Reza Ardakanian said that his country, "currently covers half of the electricity consumption in Iraq, through gas sales and electricity exports to the neighboring country".

In a press conference on the occasion of the government week, Ardakanian said that it is impossible for any country to export electricity to Iraq, "as it suffers from war damage, terrorist attacks, and is now facing problems in securing electric power".

He pointed out, "15 thousand megawatts of electricity are operating in the public network in Iraq out of 25 thousand megawatts installed, and this remarkable deficit qualifies any neighboring country to help in this field", considering that, "the door is open for others to help in this field".

The Wall Street Journal reported today, Monday, that the United States is pushing for a new Saudi-Iraqi project to invest in the energy field.

The newspaper said that the US is seeking to integrate Iraq with its neighbors in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries to invest in the field of energy, indicating that the administration of US President Donald Trump has urged Baghdad to move forward towards cooperation with these countries, in the project of connecting the electricity network, which is a step to reduce Baghdad’s dependence on Iranian energy.

Washington had exempted Iraq from the sanctions imposed on importing Iranian energy, at a time when Iraq is trying to reduce its dependence on Tehran.

The Iraqi ambassador in Riyadh, Qahtan Al-Janabi revealed, on Sunday, that the Gulf interconnection will completely solve the problem of electricity in Iraq.

Al-Janabi said in a statement today, "there is a memorandum of understanding signed between the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity, to link the Gulf through Kuwait", indicating that, "there is a clear development in this issue".

He added, "It is hoped that it will be completed within a year to solve the electricity crisis in Iraq, given that the six Gulf countries have abundant electric power".

Al-Janabi explained that, "through this link, Iraq will not pay any sums. Rather, its financing will be from the outputs of the Kuwait Conference for the Reconstruction of Iraq, which was held years ago".