Iraq and Iran reach agreements on electricity and gas issues

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - Iran and Iraq reached agreements on the former's export of electricity and gas to the latter as well as Baghdad's release of Iranian financial assets, Iran's Tasnim News Agency reported on Sunday.

Iraq's foreign minister Fuad Hussein met his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Saturday. They discussed various issues, such as recent deals reached between Iran and Iraq following Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi's visit to the Iranian capital Tehran earlier this month.

They also reportedly agreed to make "serious efforts to address some outstanding problems such as the release of the Iranian financial assets held by the Iraqi government," Tasnim said.

The two ministers also talked about other events in the region, including the situation in Afghanistan.

In June, in the middle of this year's scorching summer in Iraq, Iran cut off the supply of electricity to Iraq to pressure Baghdad to release the $4 billion it owed it for electricity.

Iraq depends on Iran for approximately one-third of its electricity needs. The country has suffered chronic electricity shortages since the 1990s.

In August, the United States granted Iraq a four-month extension to its sanctions waiver, allowing it to import Iranian gas. As part of the Donald Trump administration's "maximum pressure" campaign, the US slapped severe sanctions on Iran's energy sector.

However, Washington has granted Baghdad a series of temporary waivers so it can continue to important Iranian gas and electricity. By making the waivers temporary, it hopes to gradually push Baghdad to lessen its energy dependency on its eastern neighbor.