Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Abdul-Mahdi said, “once again I should say. Iraq will not be a part of the sanctions.”
He made the remarks ahead of a visit by US Energy Secretary Rick Perry to Baghdad with the aim of urging Iraqi energy officials to reduce reliance on Iranian gas for running its power grid.
Abdul-Mahdi said he would send a delegation to the United States to seek an exemption from sanctions to keep importing gas from Tehran.
“The American side is cooperating with Iraq to find solutions that would remove pressure on Iraq because the (Iranian) gas is linked to a very sensitive issue which is electricity,” the official added.
In a meeting with an advisor to Iranian first vice-president Hassan Danaeifar for Iraq affairs and Iran’s Ambassador to Iraq Iraj Masjedi last week, the Iraqi prime minister had said Iraq’s relations with Iran benefit both nations and would not be affected by foreign pressures.
"Iraq is an independent country and cares about its foreign relations, especially its economic ties with Iran, based on its national interests,” he noted, adding that “the relations are not going to be affected by the will and pressures of others.”
Iraq's stance on the US anti-Iran sanctions is like that of the EU, Russia, China and Japan, and Iraq will not be part of the sanctions system, Abdul-Mahdi stressed.
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