Al-Monitor: What about the Kurds’ decision to export oil?
Shahrestani: They agreed with Turkey on exporting the oil produced in [Iraqi] Kurdistan, despite the federal government’s refusal. But since then, four ships have sailed, one of them off-loaded at Ashkelon port in Israel and the remaining three are still looking for customers; nobody wants to buy stolen oil, no country wants to get into legal problems with Iraq. They offered discounts on the oil but they failed in selling them.
Our stance is clear and I’ll reiterate it once again, neither [Iraqi] Kurdistan nor any other Iraqi province has the right to export oil; this is the duty and responsibility of the federal government. We have an agreement with Turkey that was ratified by both our parliaments, and they should abide by it. They shouldn’t allow the Kurds to use the pipelines to sell Iraq’s oil without permission, but they did this and they breached the agreement. Therefore, we’ll solve this in court.
Al-Monitor: Is Turkey aware of Iraq’s position?
Shahrestani: The Iraqi Ministry of Oil communicated with them, but they said that this is not their responsibility as it’s being done through the private sector. But we are aware that such moves, even through the private sector, can’t take place without an official green light.
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