In February President Trump signed a new presidential memorandum restarting his Maximum Pressure campaign against Iran. Iraq was actually the first country to feel the effects as Washington ended its waiver to buy natural gas and electricity from Tehran at the start of March.
This would have a huge impact upon Iraq which relies upon Iran for up to 40% of its electricity production. That demand will greatly increase in a few months as the summer months hit and temperatures skyrocket.
There have been several reports that Iraq has not complied with the U.S. The managing director of Iran’s Power Generation Company told the press that Baghdad continued to import electricity and natural gas. He said that the two sides discussed Iraq’s outstanding debts over energy and that the two would continue to do business until their contract expired in 2027. This could be costly for Iraq as it could face not only sanctions from Washington but a cut off of its oil revenues which are deposited in the United States.
SOURCES
Asharq Al-Awsat, “Washington Signals Gradual, Sweeping Sanctions on Iraq,” 3/9/25
Benny, John Aldroubi, Mina, “US rescinds sanctions waiver for Iraq’s energy imports from Iran,” The National, 3/9/25
Shafaq News, “Despite sanctions, Iran to maintain power supply to Iraq,” 3/14/25
Xinhua, “Iraq to maintain power imports from Iran despite U.S. ending sanctions waiver: Iranian official,” 3/15/25
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