In a significant gesture of solidarity, the Iraqi government has approved the unloading of a fuel oil shipment to Lebanon, aimed at alleviating the country’s worsening power crisis, Caretaker Energy Minister, Walid Fayyad, announced on Wednesday.

Fayyad said that the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani, authorized the unloading of a fuel oil tanker destined for Lebanon, thus enabling the immediate unloading of two gas oil trucks at Lebanon’s Zahrani and Deir Ammar power plants, providing a much-needed boost to the nation’s electricity supply.

Earlier this week, Electricité du Liban (EDL) announced that its primary power plants, Zahrani and Deir Ammar, were facing shutdowns due to a financial dispute obstructing the delivery of essential gas oil shipments, noting that these plants are solely reliant on monthly shipments supplied by the Ministry of Energy and Water under a swap agreement between Lebanon and Iraq.

According to a statement issued by EDL on Monday, both parts of the shipment were under financial hold placed by the supplier due to a financial dispute involving the Central Bank of Lebanon, the Lebanese government, and the Iraqi government.