“We have received information that the Iraqi government has a plan to purchase an amount of electricity from the Kurdistan Region and Turkey, so we have debated the matter… and have decided to give electricity to Baghdad with conditions,” Ahmad said.

“The electricity provision should not reduce national electricity in the Kurdistan Region [and]…Baghdad should secure fuel for the Kurdistan Region’s broken-down units” owned by local investors, he added.

Blackouts are common in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, particularly in the summer and winter when demand is highest. Successive governments have promised to solve the problem without success.

Reporter’s code: 50101