Iraq says will repay 2020 gas debts to Iran ‘within two days’

In a statement carried by the Iraqi News Agency on Tuesday, Ahmed Musa, the ministry’s spokesman, said the incumbent government in Baghdad was working to resolve the crisis surrounding the country’s energy dues.

Borrowing, he said, was one of the solutions to repay the debts to Tehran.

“We announce today that the dues for 2020 will be paid within two days in accordance with the approved contexts to prevent a decrease in the quantities of gas flowing to Iraq,” the official said.

Earlier this month, the Iraqi ministry said Iran had reduced five million cubic meters of exported gas, resulting in reduction of hours of electric power supply in the Arab country.

Iraq says its failure to approve the 2022 budget was behind the delay in repaying the debts, as the country is grappling with an internal political rift hindering an agreement on forming a government and holding a presidential election.

Iraq, which largely depends on energy imports from Iran, is forced to follow a complicated mechanism to do business with the Islamic Republic due to the harsh economic sanctions imposed by the US on its eastern neighbor.