US State Department confirms sanctions on Iran amidst Iraq-Iran oil-gas exchange agreement
Shafaq News / The US State Department reaffirmed on Thursday its commitment to maintaining all sanctions imposed on Iran under President Joe Biden's administration, following Baghdad and Tehran's agreement on exchanging Iraqi oil for Iranian gas.
A spokesperson for the department, who declined to be named, told Al-Hurra TV, "The fundamentals of our policy remain unchanged, which is that Iran can only access the revenues from Iraqi energy purchases for humanitarian and other non-sanctioned transactions."
The spokesperson further stated, "The United States strongly supports Iraq's path towards energy self-reliance and the efforts of the Iraqi government to improve essential services for the Iraqi people," emphasizing that "any claim that US sanctions on Iran impede gas supplies to Iraq is false."
The spokesperson noted ongoing consultations with Iraqi authorities regarding the sanctions imposed on Iran, which remain in effect due to Iran's ongoing nuclear activities, stating, "We seek to ensure that our sanctions on Iran do not harm Iraq."
The US spokesperson highlighted that Iran's limitation of gas supplies aims to pressure and blackmail the Iraqi government and its people, adding, "We have no comment at this time on reports of an arrangement between Iraq and Iran."
Last Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced that the country would begin exchanging imported Iranian gas for crude and black oil.
Iraqi power stations heavily rely on Iranian gas; however, due to US sanctions on Iran, Baghdad cannot directly pay for its gas imports from Tehran. Instead, Tehran must use those funds to purchase food and medical supplies.
Nevertheless, this mechanism is complex and often results in delays. Iran frequently cuts off supplies that cover one-third of Iraq's needs, urging Baghdad to settle its outstanding payments.
For the past 10 days, Iran has reduced its gas supplies to Iraq by half due to €11 billion in outstanding payments held in an Iraqi TBI bank account that Tehran cannot access, as stated by al-Sudani.
In recent days, electricity rationing in Iraq has intensified as Iranian gas supplies diminish, coinciding with temperatures reaching 50 degrees Celsius in Baghdad and southern Iraq, leading to significant discontent among the population.
