Iran’s electricity supply to Iraq halted over debts: ministry
Electricity towers and transmission lines.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraq’s electricity ministry said Friday that power supplies from Iran were halted due to Iraq’s soaring debt, exacerbating the nation-wide supply shortage.
Anadolu Agency quoted ministry spokesman, Mosaab al-Madras, saying that Iran cut off electricity supplies to Iraq (1000 megawatts) on Thursday, adding to outages in Dhi Qar, Maysan and Basra provinces. He attributed the cut to Iraq’s growing debts to Iran regarding the imported electricity.
Though the spokesperson did not specify the amount owed to Iran, estimates put them a nearly
one billion dollars, according to the agency.
According to the Iraqi ministry, Iraq produces 15700 megawatts of electricity, but needs more than 23000 megawatts per hour to ensure nonstop supply to residents and institutions.
A member of the now-inactive Iraqi parliament’s financial committee, Masoud Haider, was quoted by press reports saying yesterday that Iraq’s foreign debts exceed USD112 billion.