BAGHDAD, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Iraq has signed a two-year contract to extend the import of electricity from neighboring Iran, the Ministry of Electricity said Friday.
According to the agreement, Iraq will continue to import electricity from Iran for the remaining period of 2020 and 2021, said Ahmed al-Abadi, the ministry's spokesman, in a statement.
Earlier, Iranian Minister of Energy Reza Ardakanian said an Iranian delegation signed on Wednesday in Baghdad an agreement with Iraqi Electricity Ministry to extend exporting electricity to Iraq.
Baghdad paid Tehran about 400 million U.S. dollars, which is half of Iraq's due debts to Iran for electricity supplies, he added.
Iraq has been importing electricity for some years and fuel for some power stations from Iran which has been under U.S. sanctions.
However, Washington periodically excluded Iraq from the sanctions as the country has been suffering acute power shortage since 2003. Enditem
