Speaking in an interview with the Iraqi Al-Ahed News, Mohammad Kazem Al-e Sadegh said that the payment of Iraq’s debt to Iran has been entrusted to an Iraqi bank, but due to unfair sanctions, no action was taken to pay, however, there is another way to free money.

Earlier on June 11, a senior Iraqi foreign ministry official was cited by international media including Reuters that Iraq had agreed to pay about $2.76 billion in gas and electricity debt to Iran after receiving a sanctions waiver from the United States.

This comes as the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) managing director said on Sunday that Iraq has settled all bills related to imports of natural gas from Iran.

On June 10, Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce Chairman Yahya Al-e Es’haq said $2.7 billion of Iran’s assets frozen in Iraq due to US sanctions on Iran were released.

Iraqi Minister of Electricity Ziyad Ali Fadel has also said Baghdad has paid all its gas debt to Tehran

On Tuesday,  US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller reacted to the settlement of Iraq’s gas-related debts to Iran.

Since 2018 the Department of State has provided a number of waivers in consultation with Congress that allow Iraq to pay for electricity imports from Iran, by transferring funds into a restricted account in Iraq, Miller said.

“Consistent with US sanctions, these funds can only be accessed for humanitarian and other non-sanctionable transactions. The money only goes to approved third parties.  They are not transferred to Iran directly, and we the United States continue to approve transactions for the use of funds on a case-by-case basis,” he claimed.

RHM/FNA14020407000451