The Trump administration terminated an exemption on Saturday that had allowed Irak to pay Iran for electricity, as part of the “maximum pressure” campaign of the president of the United States against Tehran, said a spokesman for the State Department.
The decision to let the exemption of Iraq fall to the expiration “says that we will not allow Iran any degree of economic or financial relief,” said the spokesman, added that Trump’s campaign on Iran aims to “end his nuclear threat, reduce his ballistic missile program and prevent him from supporting terrorist groups.”
Trump restored the “maximum pressure” about Iran in one of his first acts after returning to office in January. In his first mandate, he brought the United States out of the Iran Nuclear Agreement, a multinational agreement to prevent I will develop nuclear weapons.
The United States government has said that Iran wants to isolate Iran from the global economy and eliminate its oil export income to delay Tehran’s development from a nuclear weapon.
Iran denies the search for nuclear weapons and says that his program is Pacific.
For Iraq, the end of the exemption “presents temporary operational challenges,” said Farhad Alaaeldin, foreign affairs advisor to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani.
“The government is actively working on alternatives to maintain electricity supply and mitigate any potential interruption,” said Alaaeldin Reuters.
“The strengthening of energy security remains a national priority, and efforts to improve national production, improve network efficiency and invest in new technologies will continue at full pace.”
Washington has imposed a variety of sanctions on Tehran on its nuclear program and alleged support for armed organizations, effectively prohibiting countries that do business with Iran to do business with the United States.
“President Trump has been clear that the Iranian regime must stop ambitions of a nuclear weapon or face maximum pressure,” said national security spokesman James Hewitt.
“We hope that the regime puts the interests of its people and the region ahead of its destabilizing policies.”
Pressure on Baghdad
Initially, Trump gave exemptions to several buyers to meet the consumer’s energy needs when he reimputed the sanctions on energy exports in Iran in 2018, citing its nuclear program and what the United States calls its interference in the Middle East.
His administration and that of Joe Biden repeatedly renewed the exemption of Iraq while urging Baghdad to reduce his dependence on Iranian electricity. The state department spokesman reiterated that call on Saturday.
“We urge the Iraqi government to eliminate its dependence on Iranian energy sources as soon as possible,” said the spokesman. “Iran is an unreliable energy supplier.”
The United States has used the review of the exemption in part to increase the pressure on Baghdad to allow Kurdish crude oil exports through Turkiye, the sources have said. Reuters. The objective is to increase supply to the global market and maintain prices under control, giving the United States more space to pursue efforts to drown Iranian oil exports.
Iraq’s negotiations with the semi -autonomous Kurda region on oil export resumption have been tense so far.
“Iraq’s energy transition provides opportunities for US companies, who are leading experts in the world to increase the productivity of electricity plants, improve electrical networks and develop electricity interconnections with reliable partners,” said the state department spokesman.
The spokesman made the impact of Iranian electricity imports on the Iraq electricity network, saying: “In 2023, Iran’s electricity imports were only 4% of the electricity consumption in Iraq.”
