Iraq
The Iraqi and US flags sway outside a hotel in Baghdad on September 27, 2020. Photo: Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US has granted Iraq another 120-day sanctions waiver allowing the payment of electricity imports from neighboring Iran, the US Department of State confirmed to Rudaw on Tuesday, adding that it hopes this will provide Iraq enough time to draw up plans to become less reliant on Iranian imports.
The waiver enables Iraqi payments for Iranian electricity imports, bypassing existing US sanctions on Iranian exports. An official from the US State Department responded via email to questions asked by Rudaw’s Bijar Bashqali, saying that that the waiver ensures that energy demands in Iraq are met during the 120 days “while it takes steps to reduce its dependence on” imports from Iran.
The official also referred to the progress made regarding energy agreements during the four rounds of the Strategic Dialogue talks between the US and Iraq over the course of the past two years, with the last round taking place in July last year. The agreements reached are aimed at reducing Iraq’s dependence on Iranian imports and making the country self-sufficient.
The State Department added that it believes that 120 days are enough for the Iraqi government “to take meaningful action” to achieve self-sufficiency and in turn become less dependent on Iran.
This is not the first time the US has provided waivers to Iraq since sanctions were slammed on Iran. US President Joe Biden extended the waivers in March and August last year.
In January 2021, Washington granted a three-month extension after "long discussions," an official told AFP at the time. On March 31, the US again agreed to another four-month extension.
The recent sanctions waiver comes amid ongoing talks in the Austrian capital aimed at restoring the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran and world powers, including the US, have held talks for almost a year aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, with Iran insisting that the US must lift its crippling sanctions.
Washington does not allow Iraq to pay Iranian dues in US dollars, but western and Iraqi sources said that Iraqi officials had obtained a green light from the United States to release the money owed to Tehran through a Swiss bank account.
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