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The United States has issued Iraq a new 120-day waiver allowing the country to pay Iran for electricity via non-Iraqi banks, Reuters reported on Tuesday, quoting a U.S. official as saying.
Based on the waiver, signed by the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, Iraq will be able to deposit energy payments into non-Iraqi banks in third countries instead of into restricted accounts in Iraq.
Monies put into non-Iraqi accounts, like those deposited into Iraqi banks, will however be restricted and can only be used for purchasing humanitarian goods.
Back in June, Iraq was allowed to release $2.7 billion worth of Iranian assets frozen in the country’s banks.
In this regard, the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) said in the statement that the Iranian funds were released in accordance with a trilateral mechanism.
“The Iranian assets that were recently released from February 2023 until this June were according to the mechanism agreed upon between the three countries (Iraq, Iran, and the United States of America) which has been in force since 2018,” said Aqeel al-Showeili, the communications specialist of TBI, said.
According to the Iranian officials, part of the freed money was allocated for the provision of funds needed by Iranian Hajj pilgrims and another part was used to pay for purchasing basic commodities.
Iran is under extensive U.S. economic sanctions reimposed in 2018 after then-U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned the nuclear deal that Tehran struck with major powers Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States in 2015.
