Page 58 - IRANRptFeb22

Iraq ‘stands ready to pay Iran billions of dollars in gas, electricity debts’
week, but officials have attributed the difficulties to technical problems.
Iraq stands ready to pay gas and electricity debts owed to Iran, the Iraqi electricity ministry said on November 29, according to Baghdad al-Yawm news agency.
Tensions have risen over the debts, which some Iranian officials have described as between $6bn and $7bn, with Iraq pointing to the US freezing Iran out of the international financial system as the obstacle to transferring the required sums. There have also been local reports of Baghdad offering to pay Tehran in Iraqi dinar, a proposal said to have been rejected outright by the Iranians, who stuck to their demand for remuneration in dollars. Some monies that become owed for imports of Iranian gas and electricity are paid off with bartered goods.
Musa was further reported as saying that Iran's gas exports to Iraq were running at less than a fifth of what they should be, while electricity exports from Iran were presently completely cut off. During the summer, when Iran faced severe power shortages, there was a feeling in Iraq that when faced by an electricity deficit, the Iranians were quick to stop power exports to their neighbour. Many Iraqis suffered prolonged periods in unbearable heat with no electricity for air conditioning or fans.
"The ministry of electricity is ready to pay back its debts to Iran based on the agreement of delegations that previously visited Tehran. The money is a weight on our shoulders that we have to pay to Iran," Ahmed Musa, a spokesman for the ministry was quoted by the news agency as saying by the ministry.
Gas imports from Iran typically generate as much as 45% of Iraq's daily consumption of 14,000 megawatts of electricity. Iran transmits another 1,000 MW of electricity directly.
9.1.14 Defence sector news
Raisi ‘pushed Putin to finally agree to provision of S-400 missiles and Su-35 fighter jets at Moscow meeting’
Iran is pushing Russia to finally agree a longstanding request that it provide the Islamic Republic with the S-400 advanced missile defence system and Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, an Iran source cited by OilPrice.com has said.
“A significant part of the main meeting between [Russian leader Vladimir Putin] and [Iranian President Ebrahim] Raisi on Wednesday [January 19] was taken up with discussion over Russia finally providing Iran with the S-400 missile defence system and Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, with payments again to be made through favourable terms for oil and gas sector deals,” the source was reported as saying.
There is speculation that if Russia allows the weaponry provision some of the senior political and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) figures in Iran might agree to some of the tougher clauses that the US wants in any new iteration of the nuclear deal, or the JCPOA, the 2015 agreement that representatives of Iran and major powers at the ongoing Vienna talks are attempting to revive.
The favourable terms that Iran has granted Russia on developing its recent supergiant gas find, the Chalous field in the Caspian Sea, were pointed out by Iran during the meetings in Moscow, the source was also quoted as saying. Iran and Russia are attempting to hammer out a 20-year co-operation deal. This is creating suspicion in Washington as to what joint plans and strategies Tehran and Moscow might have in mind. Some Republicans in the US reportedly fear Russia is attempting to dominate the nuclear deal talks and that
58 IRAN Country Report February 2022 www.intellinews.com