Iraqi parliament to summon electricity minister over power crisis

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's parliament has agreed to invite the electricity minister to an upcoming session to address the deterioration of the country's power grid, lawmaker Ali Hatim told reporters. Hatim said the parliamentary leadership accepted the request from members and called on the prime minister to personally oversee the electricity file, pointing to ongoing outages in several cities. Energy and Electricity Committee chair Falah Circmat said the crisis was the result of poor planning and urged the government to accelerate gas imports from Iran or seek alternative supplies from Gulf countries and other sources. The committee also called on the government to present clear plans to diversify the country's energy and fuel resources. Circmat said the committee has requested that the minister appear next Thursday to answer lawmakers' questions. The committee previously met with Electricity Minister Sadi Wahhab on June 8 to discuss the state of the national grid. No further details on the planned session were immediately available.