US National Security Advisor Michael Walz spoke with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. Walz briefed Iraqi officials on Washington's new decision to lift a key restriction that allows Iraq to buy electricity from Iran.
According to Volz, this is part of President Donald Trump’s maximum pressure campaign against Iran.
With this decision, Washington ended the waiver of sanctions that allowed Iraq to buy gas and electricity from Iran.
Iraq heavily relies on imports of Iranian gas to maintain its electricity production. Previous decisions by Washington had allowed Baghdad to bypass American sanctions on Tehran as a short-term measure until it could abandon Iranian energy supplies. On Sunday, the United States canceled that decision.
A US State Department spokesman also said that Washington hopes that the Iraqi government will begin to use natural gas supplies from Kurdistan after the sanctions are lifted. The move would reduce Iraq’s dependence on Iranian gas.
