"Tidbits From TNT" Friday Morning 7-14-2023

Jul 14

TNT:

Tishwash: Al-Amiri: An employee of the US Treasury who controls Iraq's money

Today, Thursday, the head of the "Al-Fatah" coalition in Iraq, Hadi al-Amiri, accused the United States of controlling Iraq's funds.

"It is necessary to work to achieve economic sovereignty in Iraq after the security and political stability that Iraq is currently witnessing," he said during a speech at the eulogy of one of the leaders of the Popular Mobilization Forces.

"It is shameful that an employee of the US Treasury controls Iraq's money," he added. link

Tishwash: this is a publication that goes out to the middle east and the uk

Iraq to begin paying for Iranian gas with crude oil

Move aims at simplifying payments current complicated by impact of US sanctions on Iran

Iraq is set to start paying for Iranian gas imports with oil in order to avoid falling foul of US sanctions.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Tuesday said that Baghdad and Tehran had signed an agreement following several days of talks for "the import of Iranian gas to fuel Iraqi power plants, in exchange for Iraqi crude oil".

"The agreement aims to address the gas supply crisis for power plants, while tackling payment issues and complications arising from US sanctions," said the statement from the prime minister's office.

Iraq is reliant on Iranian gas for a third of its energy needs, but is unable to directly pay for it as a result of US sanctions on Iran, forcing the country to resort to a complicated mechanism for transferring funds.

According to the mechanism, payments were to be held in a bank account and - following approval from Washington - be used by Tehran to fund imports of food and medicines, a method which left Iraq in heavy arrears.

Earlier this month, Iran halved its supply of gas to Iraq because of unpaid bills of more than $12 billion, according to Sudani.

Speaking in a televised address on Tuesday, he said that "as the American side did not give the necessary permission for the transfer of funds... the supply of Iranian gas was stopped."

"Because of the transfer mechanism and its complexity, we were unable to obtain authorisation to transfer these outstanding payments so our Iranian neighbour could continue to supply us" with gas, he said.

He added, however, that a recent payment to Iran of around $1.9bn had been made and that as a result of Tuesday's agreement "we will be able to guarantee that the gas will continue to flow."

In recent years, Iraq has seen widespread unrest and demonstrations, triggered in large part by failing energy supplies during intensely hot summers.

Corruption, crumbling infrastructure and continuing instability after decades of conflict and sanctions have left the country's energy sector in a dire state, despite having some of the world's largest oil reserves.

Baghdad has recently also been exploring several possibilities for reducing reliance on Iranian gas, such as imports from Qatar and recovering flared gas from oilfields.

There has also been criticism of Washington for its refusal to allow the release of funds to Iran.

On Sunday, the Coordination Framework - a coalition of Iran-linked Shia parties that form the largest bloc in parliament - called on the government in a statement "to contact the US side and urge the immediate unlocking of the unpaid bills related to Iranian gas imports". link

************

Tishwash: With a mathematical process and in numbers.. An expert reveals the economic feasibility of bartering between Iraq and Iran – Urgent

Today, Friday, economic expert Nabil Al-Marsoumi revealed the economic feasibility of bartering between Iranian gas and Iraqi oil.

Al-Marsoumi said in a post he posted on Facebook, followed by “Baghdad Today”, that “bartering, or rather set-off, is usually between two parties, one of whom has a surplus of a commodity and the other suffers from a deficit, but Iran does not suffer from a deficit in the production of crude oil and black oil, but rather from restrictions America is dependent on its oil exports, and therefore it does not need Iraqi crude oil."

He explained that "Iraq's production of black oil in 2021 amounts to 335,000 barrels per day, rising in Iran to 384,000 barrels per day, while the demand for black oil in Iraq is 189,000 barrels per day, compared to 255,000 barrels per day in Iran, and therefore Iran has a surplus of oil." The black oil amounts to 49,000 barrels per day, and therefore it does not need Iraqi black oil."

Al-Marsoumi continued, "Iraq, especially when it sells crude oil and black oil at international prices, as stated in the agreement, will be the biggest winner because it will be able to export its surplus oil production from the fields of Kurdistan and the surplus of black oil to pay the Iranian gas import bill, while Iran will not be able to use crude oil and oil." The lions are in domestic consumption because it is self-sufficient in them," noting that Iran "cannot re-export them because of the US sanctions on it, which raises doubts about the practical application of this spending between Iraq and Iran."

Earlier, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia'a al-Sudani, announced that Iran would be bartering black oil in exchange for gas imported from it. link

************

Kat4Hope: Well This Is Interesting- Iranian president welcomed in Zimbabwe with anti-West songs on the last stop on his Africa trip

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi, center, inspects the guard of honour upon his arrival at Robert Mugabe a...Show more

The Associated Press

HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi was welcomed in Zimbabwe on Thursday by people singing songs criticizing the West as he made his last stop on a three-nation Africa trip aimed at finding new trade alliances to soften the impact of U.S. sanctions on his nation.

Raisi was greeted at Harare's international airport by Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa and dozens of supporters waving Zimbabwe and Iran flags and holding placards with Raisi's image.

Both countries are under U.S. sanctions and Raisi's trip to Africa, which has already included stops in Kenya and Uganda, highlights Iran's efforts to counter those heavy economic punishments.

Iran and Zimbabwe already have a joint permanent commission on political and trade relations and officials on Thursday signed 12 new memorandums of understanding, including agreements on agriculture, pharmaceuticals, telecoms, gas, energy and education.

Iran also signed agreements with Kenya and Uganda on Wednesday.

"Our cooperation with Zimbabwe and our cooperation with the African continent, which is a continent full of potential, could help us for mutual advances,” Raisi said in translated comments in Zimbabwe.

Raisi has recently reached out to other nations struggling under U.S. sanctions, including on his first visit to Latin America last month, when he went to Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba.

“It is critically important that we, the victims of Western sanctions, are talking to each other," Mnangagwa said. "The authors of these sanctions would not want us to talk to each other. But because we are both victims it is equally important that we show them that we are united.”

Iran has been subjected to a new bout of sanctions by the United States for allegedly supplying Russia with drones that have been used to devastating effect in the war in Ukraine.

The U.S. and European Union sanctions on Zimbabwe go back 20 years and are largely due to allegations of human rights abuses under former president Robert Mugabe. Some of those EU sanctions are being eased.

Iran and Zimbabwe also share historical ties and Mnangagwa thanked Raisi for Iran's help in a liberation war in the 1970s that eventually led to the southern African nation breaking free of white minority rule.

“When we went to war, Iran was our friend. I am happy you have come to show solidarity,” Mnangagwa said earlier in brief remarks on the tarmac at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport named after the late Zimbabwean leader Mnangagwa helped oust in a coup in 2017.

At the airport, supporters sang songs criticizing the West as “white masters” intent on interfering in Zimbabwe and Raisi inspected an honor guard by Zimbabwe’s military.

The last visit by an Iranian leader to Zimbabwe was in 2010 by then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

Mot: thanx fer Putting the Sign there…..