Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraq and the United States have reached an agreementallowing Baghdad to settle Iran's outstanding payments for gas imports throughthe supply of goods, including food and medicine, instead of cash transfers, amember of the Iraqi Parliament's Electricity and Energy Committee said onMonday.
Riyadh Uday told Shafaq News that Iran is seeking about $11billion in unpaid dues from Iraq, adding that a part of the amount is currentlyheld at the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) but cannot be transferred because of USsanctions imposed on Iran.
"There are ongoing discussions between the Iraqi andIranian delegations to resolve the issue of these funds and resume the supplyof Iranian gas to Iraq's power plants."
Last Thursday, Iranian Central Bank Governor Abd al-NaserHemmati disclosed the value of Iran's outstanding claims against Iraq forexports of natural gas and electricity, noting that the issue was a key topicduring talks with Iraqi Central Bank Governor Nizar Nasser Hussein on thesidelines of Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Falih Al-Zaidi's visit to Tehran.
“The Central Bank of Iran holds about $7 billion depositedin Iraq, in addition to more than $3 billion owed to Iran's Oil Ministry,bringing the total amount owed by the Iraqi government and Iraqi banks tobetween $10 billion and $11 billion.”
Under bilateral agreements, Iraq deposits payments forimported Iranian gas and electricity into accounts held at the Central Bank ofIraq and the Trade Bank of Iraq.
The original contracts stipulated that gas imports would bepaid for in euros and electricity imports in US dollars. However, after theUnited States withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran in 2018 andreimposed sanctions, Iraq was no longer able to settle the payments in foreigncurrencies. The restrictions led to the accumulation of the funds within Iraq'sbanking system and limited how the money could be used.
