Researcher Shatha Khalil *
Iraq stands in the middle between the United States and Iran, the two countries that have had the interest of overthrowing the regime and creating chaos in the country, and evidence remains that the two sides are still working to make Iraq the arena of their conflict and with Iraqi blood.
The strangest thing is the willingness of parties and (Iraqi politicians) to show a great enthusiasm to defend Iran. The parties, MPs and politicians showed support for Iran and prevented Iraq from complying with the new US sanctions imposed on Iran.
Some have even come to say that they are ready to fight alongside Iran in any future confrontation. Moreover, they are talking about drafting a resolution in parliament calling on US forces to leave Iraq.
On the other hand, the United States has supporters of its presence in Iraq, which makes it feel reassured about its influence there, and what raises more fears is the possibility of bloody confrontation with Iraqi hands and blood, this is happening now between the factions of the popular crowd and the liquidation of organizations inside it that are not loyal to Iran.
The conflict of influence and domination on Iraq between America and Iran through the control on projects does not reflect hostility between Tehran and Washington, as it has clear indications on strategies set to divide the interests and prioritize influence.
All because of the absence of an Iraqi national project and the involvement of Iraqis in sectarian and doctrinal conflicts because most of the parties and political names, whether they came with the occupier or have been incubated and produced domestically at home, do not carry a vision or national identity, and its first and last loyalty to external parties which have their own agendas , this is what made the battle and the conflict of foreign projects on the Iraqi arena a prevailing reality can not get out of its cycle , by an initiative to build a national Iraqi collective project , but the initiative is difficult in the near term because the inability of the Iraqi community machinery to overcome the past, and inability to diagnose the mistakes, this is on the one hand, and on the other, the important and most important, the dominance of the religious Marja decision on the collective consciousness in the street, and the dependency of the ruling junta and its symbols to these Marja and implementation of their decisions, in the service of their personal interests first, and their sick doctrinal second , and to maintain their positions third, and they no have the will, the national belonging, and not even the moral constant fourth and finally .
The power crisis in Iraq:
US sanctions on Iran put Iraq in trouble to rely on Iranian gas used to produce electricity, that is, Iraq must follow the steps of independence in the field of energy and politics.
The Iraqi electricity sector suffers from poor conditions after many years of financial and administrative corruption in the country, as well as more than three years of war on the organization of the terrorist ISIS, which led to the destruction of the infrastructure in many of the provinces occupied by the organization.
Iraq is currently importing about 28 million cubic feet of gas per day. The Iraqi Ministry of Electricity said that it is exempt from the sanctions imposed by Washington on Iran, and announced the continued flow of imported gas from Iran to feed the country’s production stations and the purchase of 1,200 MW of Iranian electricity.
The United States on Monday decided not to renew exemptions on Iranian oil imports by May 2 to eight countries it received in December.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Electricity Musab al-Mudaris , said that his country is currently importing from Iran about 28 million cubic feet of gas per day feeding a number of power plants to approximately 2800 MW, and is likely to increase quantities in June to 35 million standard cubic feet per day , to increase the production capacity to 3500 MW, and pointed to the continuation of the Iranian side to equip Iraq with 1200 MW of electricity every day feeding the national system, he said.
Thus, Iraqi energy imports from Iran are of great importance to the country to meet the challenges of increasing domestic and industrial consumption in the country.
As part of the deepening crisis, Iraq has signed contracts with Siemens, a leading German company worth $ 14 billion to renew the infrastructure in the country and the addition of new generation plants.
Iraq is seeking to sign contracts worth billions of dollars, with the General Electric Company in this regard.
The former Iraqi oil minister stressed the importance of the contracts signed with Siemens, saying: The German Company “can put an end to the suffering of the country in the field of electricity,” and it is possible to reach the stage of self-sufficiency, he said.
Iraq also signed an agreement to connect electricity with Saudi Arabia, which has a large surplus of electricity production.
The Ministry of Electricity spokesman Musab al-Mudaris that the total amount of energy imported by his country from Iran is 4,700 megawatts, which contributes to easing the Iraqi burden in the summer, adding that the goal of the ministry to provide eight thousand megawatts to be the volume of energy this summer in the highest history of Iraq, Iraq has no alternative to importing Iranian gas, adding that stopping imports would cost Iraq’s electricity grid 4,000 megawatts a day.
Iraq has agreed to a deal with China Petroleum Engineering and Construction Company to build and operate facilities to process the extracted natural gas, as well as oil in the giant Halfaya field, two oil officials said.
Iraq suffers from the waste of gas extracted from the burning process along with crude oil in its fields because of the lack of facilities to be treated and converted to fuel for domestic consumption or export.
In conclusion, the element of surprise remains within the limits of the data that dominates the regional and international arenas, especially the mood swings of the American president, and it is not ruled out that the common interests between Iran and Washington will be the case.
Economic Studies Unit
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies