The Shell-backed gas project poised to profit Iran

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

53% : At the same time, two years of negotiations between western powers and Iran on a nuclear deal had opened the possibility for renewed engagement with Iranian companies, the person said.
52% : US sanctions waivers allow Iraq to import gas and power directly from Iran but Baghdad's payments can only be used by Tehran to fund purchases of food or medicine or for other authorised international transfers.
51% : It also reflects how the west has vacillated on its rules of engagement with Tehran over the past decade, complicating operations for foreign investors in Iraq.
48% : Mapna was ultimately awarded a $2.05bn contract to build and deliver the key technology for the Rumaila plant, backed by an Iraqi government payment guarantee signed on July 9 2015 -- days before the west's nuclear deal with Iran.
46% : When Mapna was selected to help build the Rumaila plant in 2015, Iran was about to sign a nuclear deal with western powers, and relations were improving.
45% : But the limitations on transferring the payments to Iran mean that they are building up in Iraq."
42% : This arcane arrangement helps Iraq to meet domestic power demand but means its payments to Iran are often delayed, prompting Tehran to occasionally turn off supply.
40% : There is no indication that payments from Basrah Gas for power from the Rumaila plant, made via Iraq's ministry of electricity, will violate US or European sanctions on dealing with Iran.
35% : The plant received support from the Export Guarantee Fund of Iran in the form of a $300mn political risk insurance policy and is described on Mapna's website as the company's "largest international power project".
31% : The transfers to Mapna's account are not the only energy-related payments between Iraq and Iran to have encountered problems.

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