TEHRAN - A high-ranking Iraqi delegation is due to visit Tehran next week to discuss settling the country’s gas dues and resuming the imports of natural gas from Iran, Iraqi news portal sotalIraq.com quoted the spokesman of Iraq’s Electricity Ministry as saying.

As ISNA reported on Sunday, Ahmed Musa said that a high-ranking delegation comprised of three ministries of electricity, finance, and oil along with the director-general of Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) will travel to Iran with the aim of finding solutions for settling Iraq’s gas dues and importing energy from Iran.

Musa noted that after this visit and reaching an agreement Iraq is going to pay part of its gas dues to Iran.

He put Iraq's debts to Iran at $1.692 billion, saying that the Iraqi delegation will discuss the possibility of paying these debts in three installments over three years, or all together after Iran increases gas exports to the country.

Musa had earlier said that supplying gas from Iran to Iraq is not satisfactory and is still very low, adding: “It is envisioned that Iran could supply more than 45 million cubic meters of gas to Iraq.”

He had put the current supply of gas from Iran to Iraq at nearly eight million cubic meters.

Earlier in February, Iranian and Iraqi oil ministers discussed increasing Iran's gas exports to Iraq and "paying off Iraq's gas debts to Iran."

Iranian Oil Minister Javad Oji met with his Iraqi counterpart Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar Ismail on the sidelines of a meeting of the Assembly of Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in the Qatari capital Doha to discuss expanding energy cooperation between the two countries.

In December 2020, Iran reduced its gas exports to the neighboring country by over 45 million cubic meters a day to five million cubic meters per day.

EF/MA