By John Lee.
At a press briefing on Thursday, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller (pictured) said the United States has issued another 120-day waiver to allow Iraq to continue importing electricity from Iran.
Addressing a question from the floor, Miller said:
"... these are waivers that have been regularly issued to Iraq going back to 2018 under a previous administration. This is now the 21st time that this particular waiver has been issued. And it's important to realize how this money has been used.
"Number one, that no money is permitted to enter Iran under the terms of this waiver. All of these funds are held in restricted accounts and they can only be used for transactions for the purchase of food, medicine, medical devices, agricultural products, and other non-sanctionable transactions. And that it is part of our broader goal to wean Iraq off of dependence on Iran for the provision of electricity, because that's what these waivers - as I know you know - what these waivers relate to, which is that Iraq continues to have to get its electricity from Iran.
"Iraq has been making real progress on its path towards energy sufficiency since 2020. It has cut its imports of Iranian energy by more than half. Over the last decade, it has doubled its own electricity generation. And we will continue to work with them and support them as they try to become energy independent."
He further clarified:
"Iraq has been importing electricity from Iran. It doesn't pay it - Iran - directly for that electricity. It deposits money into these restricted accounts, and then we issue these waivers. It allows the money in that - those accounts to be used for humanitarian and other non-sanctionable purposes, but the money itself doesn't actually move from Iraq to Iran."
(Source: US State Dept)
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