Iraq Seeks Ways to Keep Importing Energy From Iran
TEHRAN (Dispatches) - Secretary of Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce Seyed Hamid Hosseini said that Baghdad is resolute to preserve its trade and energy ties with Tehran with a plan to deposit several billions of U.S. dollars in an account in an Iraqi bank to pay for imports of energy from Iran.
Hosseini said that $4-5 billion will be deposited to the special account in the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) to settle Iraq’s debts to Iran, including those related to the imports of electricity and gas over the past years, based on a recent agreement between governments of the two neighboring countries.
He added that authorities from the two countries had agreed to use the account as a special financial instrument to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran and allow Tehran to pay for imports of non-sanction goods through the account.
"Unfortunately, in practice ... this mechanism hit a snag and became entangled in administrative bureaucracy,” he said, adding that American bank JPMorgan Chase, which controls shares in the TBI, has been stonewalling Iran’s access to the account.
Hosseini said businessmen and private sector activists had currently no major problems doing trade between Iran and Iraq, adding that the TBI mechanism had been expected to accommodate government-to-government transactions between the two countries.
Iran is still the number one supplier of natural gas and electricity to Iraq despite growing pressure from the U.S. which seeks to cut the exports to zero.
Baghdad has secured rounds of waivers from U.S. sanctions, insisting that it has no alternative to replace energy imports from Iran.
Hosseini said that $4-5 billion will be deposited to the special account in the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) to settle Iraq’s debts to Iran, including those related to the imports of electricity and gas over the past years, based on a recent agreement between governments of the two neighboring countries.
He added that authorities from the two countries had agreed to use the account as a special financial instrument to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran and allow Tehran to pay for imports of non-sanction goods through the account.
"Unfortunately, in practice ... this mechanism hit a snag and became entangled in administrative bureaucracy,” he said, adding that American bank JPMorgan Chase, which controls shares in the TBI, has been stonewalling Iran’s access to the account.
Hosseini said businessmen and private sector activists had currently no major problems doing trade between Iran and Iraq, adding that the TBI mechanism had been expected to accommodate government-to-government transactions between the two countries.
Iran is still the number one supplier of natural gas and electricity to Iraq despite growing pressure from the U.S. which seeks to cut the exports to zero.
Baghdad has secured rounds of waivers from U.S. sanctions, insisting that it has no alternative to replace energy imports from Iran.