ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Iraqi Ministry of Electricity on Thursday denied that the government had received any official communication from the United States regarding the suspension of the waiver which permits the country to purchase Iranian gas.

“Iraq has official channels and communication with the American side, and so far, this side has not informed the Iraqi side that it will stop granting the exemptions that allow Iraq to continue importing Iranian gas. Nothing official has reached us yet,” ministry spokesperson Ahmed Moussa told The New Region.

Moussa said the ministry is working to address any potential energy crisis if Iranian gas is completely cut off in the coming period.

“The Iraqi government is also working on diversifying gas import sources after signing a contract with Turkmenistan, as well as stopping gas flaring in Iraqi fields so that this gas can become the main fuel for power stations in the coming years,” he said.

Last month, the head of the parliamentary finance committee, Atwan al-Atwani, said that stopping Iranian gas imports threatens to collapse Iraq’s electricity system.

He argued that “the sanctions target Iraq, not Iran, as Iraq is the one suffering the consequences.” His remarks came during a meeting with Electricity Minister Ziad Ali Fadhil and senior ministry officials.

Previous US administrations have repeatedly renewed a waiver permitting Iraq to purchase Iranian electricity, as the country continues to struggle with providing power to its people.

A National Security Presidential Memorandum by US President Donald Trump to impose further sanctions on Iran in early February said that the Secretary of State shall “modify or rescind sanctions waivers, particularly those that provide Iran any degree of economic or financial relief.”

The US Department of the Treasury in late February announced imposing sanctions on over 30 “persons and vessels in multiple jurisdictions for their role in brokering the sale and transportation of Iranian petroleum-related products.”

Among those sanctioned were oil brokers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Hong Kong, and tanker operators and mangers in India and China.