US extends waiver allowing Iraq to buy gas and pay Iran
ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency
Wed / 15 November 2023 / 12:21
.The US announced that it extended sanctions waiver allowing Iraq to buy electricity from Iran
Tehran (ISNA) - The United States announced on Tuesday that it was extending for another 120 days a sanctions waiver allowing Iraq to buy electricity from Iran.
"This action will allow Iraq to use its own funds to render payment for Iranian electricity imports into restricted Iranian accounts in Iraq," a senior US State Department official told journalists, pointing out that Iran can only use these funds for humanitarian needs.
Because of US sanctions against Iran, Baghdad cannot pay Tehran directly for its gas.
Baghdad's unpaid bills to Tehran for past gas imports amount to some $10 billion, according to the senior official.
Asked at a press briefing about the action, Mathew Miller US State Department said "there are 20 waivers that have been issued for the payment from Iraq for Iranian electricity imports. They go back to 2018; they started during the Trump administration."
"All - in each of these waivers, it has been the case that none of this money goes to Iran. It is held in accounts that are restricted where they can only be used to pay for food, medicine, humanitarian purposes, and other non-sanctionable activities." Miller added
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