Iraq: Iran gas cuts due to nonpayment will cause shortages

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s Electricity Ministry says the country will face power shortages after crucial energy supplies from Iran were cut over non-payment. In a statement Wednesday the ministry said the total electricity supply was drastically reduced after Iran stopped exporting 5 million cubic feet of gas daily to Iraq because of non-payment. Iraq has been unable to make payments totaling about $1.7 billion because of the failure of political elites to form a government eight months after national elections. In the summer of 2018, Iraq’s failing power grid was a key reason behind violent protests in the southern oil-rich province of Basra.