Iraq Seeks Alternatives to Iranian Gas

Iraq is actively searching for alternatives to its gas imports from Iran to generate electricity before the arrival of summer.

This move comes amid rising tensions between Washington and Tehran over US sanctions. Meanwhile, an Iraqi security official announced the return of 150 Iraqi families from the Al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria.

The US administration under Donald Trump did not extend the exemption granted to Iraq since 2018 for purchasing electricity from Tehran despite sanctions.

Although the Trump administration did not publicly address Iraq's gas imports, a US diplomat revealed that Washington had made it clear to the Iraqi government that rapid progress was needed to halt all Iranian natural gas purchases.

Among the proposed alternatives is the installation of floating platforms for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in southern Iraq.

According to Saad Farih Jassim, the Director General of the Fuel Department at the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity, Iraq could also consider importing gas from Qatar and Oman. Jassim emphasized that the goal is to avoid relying on a single source and achieve self-sufficiency.

Currently, Iraq continues to import gas from Iran, which accounts for one-third of the country's energy needs. However, Jassim stressed the importance of preparing for the worst-case scenario in case Iranian supplies are cut off.

He revealed that Iraq is working on installing two floating LNG platforms in the port of Khor Al-Zubair, connected to the electricity grid through a 45-kilometer pipeline. The pipeline construction, in collaboration with the Ministry of Oil, has reached 95 percent completion, with operations expected to start by July.

In a separate development, an Iraqi security source confirmed that Iraq successfully repatriated over 150 families from the Al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, which houses families of ISIS militants.

On Wednesday, 153 families arrived in Iraq and were transferred to the Al-Jadaa camp in northern Iraq’s Mosul region. According to the camp's management, this group of 505 individuals is the sixth batch to leave Al-Hol since the beginning of the year.

The return of relatives of ISIS fighters initially sparked controversy in Iraq, which fought a three-year battle against the extremist group that ended in 2017.

However, the Iraqi government has committed to repatriating all its citizens from the camp, a decision welcomed by both the United Nations and the United States, while many Western countries remain hesitant.