‌‎

Speaking on the sidelines of a ceremony to sign the contract extension in Iraq, Majid Chegeni said the two sides held several rounds of talks in Tehran and Baghdad before finalizing and renewing the deal.

Iraq"s Minister of Electricity Ziyad Ali Fazel said his country will continue to import gas from Iran within the next five years.

He noted that Iraq"s power plants heavily need Iranian gas for the generation of electricity.

"Iran is a reliable economic partner for Iraq and has met our needs in the most difficult conditions," the Iraqi minister added.

Iraq needs 35,000 megawatts of electricity every day, but its daily output stands at 20,000 megawatts. A third of Iraq"s electricity is generated by the gas imported from Iran.