Expansion of Iraq ties on agenda: energy minister

Talking to reporters after a meeting with Iraqi's Minister of Water Resources Mohanned Salman al-Saadi he said that the two countries are determined to resolve the problems related to water sector.

He said that 8 percent to 10 percent of water flowing to Iraq comes from Iran, adding the main part of water originated from other countries which created a number of problems for the country.

'We do our best to resolve the related problems within the framework of agreements signed between the two countries,' the official said.

Namjou said that a joint committee is expected to be established for pursuing the objective of supplying water to Basra, Iraq pointing out that a number of short, medium, and long-term plans will be implemented in this respect.

A memorandum of understanding was signed during the meeting he said, adding a technical and engineering team is expected to be formed to study the problems, especially the pollution of the Arwand River flowing between Iran and Iraq.

Earlier, Namjou said that Iran has saved some 100 trillion rials (around 8.1 billion dollars) in water consumption and some 5 trillion rials (around 400 million dollars) in power consumption since the implementing the Subsidy Reform Plan in December 2010.

The administration is planning to reduce the per capita consumption of water to 30 liters from 150 liters, the minister added.

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