In his talks with SHANA, Hossein Hosseinzadeh, a member of the Parliament’s Energy Committee, pointed to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed during Owji’s stay in Iraq and added energy diplomacy has been bolstered under the 13th (Raeisi) administration.

Oil and gas transit is of strategic importance and requires greater attention, as it fetches the country hard currency, underlined the parliamentarian.

Tehran-Baghdad cooperation

Owji and his Iraqi counterpart Hayan Abdel-Ghani signed an MoU in Baghdad on Wednesday.

Based on the memorandum inked in the presence of Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, the two sides agreed to cooperate in oil, gas, and petrochemical projects.

Owji and Sudani put emphasis on the expansion of bilateral cooperation in the energy sector, urging Iran-Iraq Joint Working Group to follow up the implementation of the recent memorandum through holding regular sessions.

The Iraqi prime minister brought forward proposals to develop joint fields, train human resources, and implement petrochemical projects, which were welcomed by the visiting Iranian oil minister.

Gas exports

Owji said Tehran and Baghdad have agreed to extend the contracts on Iran’s gas exports.

He added the two deals on exporting Iran’s gas to Baghdad and Basra power plants will be extended for the next five years.

Owji made the remarks in his talks with reporters following a meeting with Iraqi Minister of Electricity Ziad Ali Fadel.

The minister said the Iranian and Iraqi experts solved the problems, describing the agreement as one of the achievements of his visit to Iraq.