Washington has decided extending a waiver to allow Iraq to continue to buy electricity from Iran, despite the U.S.- imposed sanctions to target Tehran’s energy sector.
Issued in December 2017, the original waiver expired on March 19. The second three-month exemption was issued by the State Department to help prevent destabilization of Iraq, which saw some anti-government protests due to shortages, especially in electricity.
"While this waiver is intended to help Iraq mitigate energy shortages, we continue to discuss our Iran-related sanctions with our partners in Iraq," a State Department official said.
It also added that Washington is continuing to work with Iraq to end its dependence on Iranian gas and electricity and to achieve energy independence.
Iraq was granted limited waivers to continue buying Iranian electricity and the natural gas needed to generate it.