Iran cannot access $5 billion of its energy money in Iraq: Official

Iran’s money from exports of gas and electricity has piled up to $5 billion in a bank account in Iraq, but Tehran cannot transfer it because of the US economic terrorism.

According to Press TV, Iraq relies on Iran for trade and natural gas that generates as much as 45% of its electricity, but the United States is trying to pry Baghdad from Tehran’s orbit.

The illegal sanctions are now giving Iran a run for $5 billion, depositing at the central bank of Iraq because Tehran cannot access it, spokesman for Iranian Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters' Association (OPEX) Hamid Hosseini said Wednesday.

While the Iranian gas and electricity has continued to flow, the revenues have accumulated and continued to sit unused in bank accounts in Iraq.

The two countries have agreed that Iraq’s government deposit the money in the Iraqi dinar at an escrow account, but they have not found yet a mechanism for its transfer.

Hosseini said Iran’s private exporters have no problem for repatriation of their money, “but the conditions for transferring revenues from exports of electricity and gas are different”.

Official statistics in the 10 months up to January showed Iran exported $8 billion in goods to Iraq.

SS