America has extended Iraq’s sanctions exemption for buying electricity from Iran

According to the report of Fars News Agency International Group, a senior official of the US Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday morning the extension of sanctions exemptions for Iraq to buy electricity from Iran for 120 days.

Agence France-Presse quoted the unnamed official as saying: “This action allows Iraq to use its financial resources to pay for Iran’s electricity imports to Iranian accounts inside Iraq.”

According to this report, “Anthony Blinken”, the US Secretary of State, has signed this 4-month sanctions waiver and sent its official letter to Congress.

Currently, about $10 billion of Iraq’s debt for Iranian electricity is held in escrow accounts in the country, and this exemption allows Baghdad to maintain its energy imports without fear of US penalties for violating Iran sanctions.

The “Associated Press” news agency also reported about this: “The exemption will also apply provisions whereby part of the electricity revenues can be transferred to Omani accounts and then converted into euros or other common currencies exchanged for Iran converted to buy non-sanctioned products.

According to this report, US officials say that Blinken signed the waiver mostly because the Washington administration does not want Iraq to be deprived of a vital source of energy.

These sources, however, claimed that the White House is confident that Iran cannot use any of this money for “improper purposes” and that a due diligence process is underway to Ensure that cash can only be used for food, medicine, medical equipment and agricultural goods.

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