Trump Nixes Waiver Giving Iraq Permission to Buy Iranian Electricity

Trump Nixes Waiver Giving Iraq Permission to Buy Iranian Electricity

President Donald Trump’s administration has pulled a waiver that gives Iraq electricity from Iran, according to Fox News.

From the report:

National security advisor Mike Waltz told Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani that the end of the waiver was consistent with President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran as the administration goes all-in on trying to prevent the regime from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

“Waltz welcomed the Iraqi Prime Minister’s efforts to achieve energy independence for Iraq, and encouraged the Iraqi government to welcome more western and U.S. energy companies into Iraq’s oil and gas sectors.”

Waltz also urged the Iraqi government to resolve its dispute with the Kurdistan Regional Government, where Iraq has been choking off the flow of oil from the Kurdistan region in Iraq to Turkey for years, allowing the region’s continued dependence on Iranian oil.

Waltz added: “The National Security Advisor urged the Iraqi government to work with the Kurdistan Regional Government to address remaining contract disputes and pay arrears owed to U.S. energy companies, and also requested that the Iraqi government retain an investment coordinator to work with U.S. companies seeking to invest and operate in Iraq.”

Iraq receives 4% of its electricity. But Iraqi Ministry of Electricity spokesperson Ahmad Moussa said the country would lose 30% of its electricity if Trump also covers gas for power plants.

On Friday, Trump told Fox Business that he “sent a letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, pushing for Tehran to agree to a nuclear agreement — or face military consequences.”

Iran insisted it would not allow the U.S. to intimidate it. From The Times of Israel:

Iran’s mission to the United Nations had indicated Sunday that Tehran might be open to talks aimed at addressing US concerns about the potential militarization of its nuclear program — though not to ending the program completely.

But on Monday, Iran’s top diplomat seemed to slam the door on such discussions, saying Tehran’s nuclear program was and always will be entirely peaceful and so there was “no such thing as its ‘potential militarization.’”

“We will NOT negotiate under pressure and intimidation. We will NOT even consider it, no matter what the subject may be,” foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on social media platform X.

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