TEHRAN - The United States has renewed a sanction waiver allowing Iraq to import Iranian gas and electricity for another three months, an Iraqi official told AFP on Monday.

The waiver will continue to exempt Iraq from U.S. sanctions reimposed on Iran in November 2018, after President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from world powers’ 2015 nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic.

The new exemption, which is longer than previous extensions, was granted after “long discussions”, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Washington has repeatedly extended the waiver for Baghdad to use crucial Iranian energy supplies for its struggling power grid.

Iraq relies heavily on Iranian gas to feed several power plants across the country, while Iranian electricity exports also account for a major part of the country’s power supply. Iran currently meets nearly 30 percent of Iraq's daily need to 14,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity, while the country imports around 1.25 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) of gas through the pipeline.

The Islamic Republic has recently slashed its gas exports to Iraq and has threatened further reduction due to the Arab country’s failure to meet its payment obligations.

EF/MA