Iran has received from Iraq a sum of $1.6 billion the Arab country owed to Iran for imports of natural gas in the past years, according to remarks by the Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Mehdi Safari said that Iraq is the first priority for Iran in developing trade relations with the regional states.
Iraq has reached new agreements with Iran on the supply of natural gas from the country, according to the spokesman of the country’s Ministry of Electricity.
A new free trade zone was launched on Iran’s joint border with Iraq on Saturday.
A senior businessman watching over trade between Iran and Iraq says Baghdad has reduced its unpaid energy bill to Tehran to just over $1 billion from more than $5 billion reported in late 2020.
Iraq’s Acting Electricity Minister Adel Karim announced reaching an agreement with Iran on settling his country’s gas debts to the Islamic Republic, IRIB reported.
An Iraqi delegation will travel to Iran to resolve gas supply issues amid efforts to prevent a shortage of electricity in the Arab country over the warm summer months.
Iraq requires Iran’s gas for years to feed its power plants, as Iran’s gas is suitable for Iraq and its price is reasonable, Iraqi Minister of Electricity Adel Karim said.
The Biden administration has granted another 120-day waiver to allow Iraq to pay for electricity imports from Iran, a State Department official said Monday.
Chairman of Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce Yahya Al Es’haq says that Baghdad has returned part of the Iranian funds that have been blocked in the Arab country in recent years because of American sanctions on Tehran.