Iraq accused the United States on Saturday of blocking U.N. approval for 40 contracts it signed with international firms to supply spare parts for its oil industry.
The U.N. Security Council agreed last month to allow Iraq to purchase $300 million in spare parts and equipment to boost oil production.Oil Minister Lt. Gen. Amer Mohammed Rashid said despite the council's approval, the U.N. sanctions committee has not reached agreement yet on how to process the contracts. He blamed Washington for the delay.
"The U.S. administration hinders anything positive that will be of benefit to the Iraqi people," Rashid said.
"We have almost no spare parts now," Rashid added. "We are running at a very critical level in terms of production."
Rashid spoke following a meeting with his Jordanian counterpart, Mohammed Saleh al-Hourani, who arrived in Baghdad on Thursday to discuss Iraq's supply of oil to Jordan.
U.N. trade sanctions imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait bar Iraqi oil exports, except for limited sales whose proceeds must be used to purchase food, medicine and other humanitarian goods.