June 25 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Government of Iraq has completely settled the debt contracted with Iran for gas imports from the Islamic republic, as confirmed by the Iranian authorities on Sunday.
Despite its large oil and gas reserves, Iraq remains heavily dependent on Iran for its energy needs, with the neighboring country providing a third of Iraq’s gas and electricity supplies.
Non-payment of installments due to problems posed by US sanctions against Iran has forced Tehran to cut off its gas and electricity supply to Iraq several times in recent years, which in turn has led to frequent power outages. in the Arab country.
According to the director of the state-owned National Iranian Gas Co., Mayid Chegeni, Iraq has already paid the 2.7 billion dollars (about 2.5 billion euros) owed after the Iraqi Foreign Ministry announced at the beginning of the month that the United States The United States had approved the lifting of the particular sanction against Iran that prevented Baghdad from paying this amount.
However, and in statements to the Iranian state agency Shana, Chegeni has acknowledged that the transfer is not yet complete because there is “a problem with the transfer process” from the Bank of Commerce of Iraq, without giving further details.
All in all, and waiting for the resolution of the problem, the also deputy minister for Iranian Oil has confirmed that there is no longer any type of commercial imbalance in terms of Iranian gas between the two countries: “The outstanding debt is zero”, he has ratified.
