Baghdad – Naglaa El Taie
Iraqi Oil Ministry announced that Baghdad and Tehran have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a pipeline which will transfer oil from Karkuk fields in Iraq to Iran, while Tehran will export electricity to Baghdad.
The Iraqi ministry announced in a statement that the memorandum will also led to the formation of joint committees to solve disputes regarding the oil fields located on the borders between the two countries.
An Iraqi official in the Ministry of Electricity in Baghdad pointed out that it is scheduled that Iran will resume soon exporting electricity to Iraq based on a new agreement, through the same previous export lines in Basra, Diyala and Wasit, adding that Tehran finally agreed to cancel the overdue debt benefits, and make it frozen money with no benefits to be paid during the current year.
The consulting engineer for the Department of the center of the electricity for the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity Saleh al-Araji, "the recent agreement between the two sides stipulated that Baghdad will pay a portion of the value of the debt amounting to $350 million, in exchange for the resumption of the country's energy supply and the extension of the agreement to continue through 2017.
According to Iranian economic analysts, the financial crisis in Tehran contributed to make it accept the late dues from its neighbor Baghdad that helped it in many areas during the last period.