General News Hop

  Two solar power projects were reportedly given to Chinese corporations by Iraq. This is in accordance with a contract deal between Iraq and China that was reached in 2019 led by former Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi. Both solar installations are in the Al-Muthanna Governorate, which borders Saudi Arabia in southern Iraq. The solar projects have a total capacity of 130 MW and 500 MW, respectively and will be distributed across the Governorate. With goals to raise renewable energy to 20% of the total energy supply, Iraq has given multiple solar power contracts to international companies including  TotalEnergies . Today, Iraq is suffering from acute power shortages because of corruption and war damages to the energy industry. Being OPEC’s second largest oil producer, Iraq is still reliant on Iranian gas imports for its electricity and until recently, it has looked to diversify its gas import by crafting new agreements with Saudi Arabia.

  Pledging not to seek revenge for the US assassination of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Soleimani is ‘a fantasy’, the elite force says. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it will not stop attempts to avenge its top general killed in a United States attack as a condition to end sanctions — a key sticking point to reviving an important nuclear deal. General Qassem Soleimani , who headed the elite Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of the IRGC, was killed in a US drone strike in Iraq’s capital Baghdad in January 2020. “Enemies have asked us several times to give up avenging the blood of Qasem Soleimani, for the lifting of some sanctions. But this is a fantasy,” navy commander Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri was quoted as saying by the IRGC’s Sepah News website. Former US President Donald Trump ordered Soleimani killed, saying he was planning an “imminent” attack on American personnel in the Iraqi capital. Iran responded to his assassination by firin...