An Iraqi businessman whose house was hit by Iranian ballistic missiles this month denied his participation in any talks to export natural gas from the Kurdistan region of Iraq to Europe, and confirmed that he was not aware of any plans in this regard.

The CEO of the "Car" Energy Group, Baz Karim Al-Barzanji, said that he and his company are not authorized to host any talks in his home, because he does not hold a government position to talk about marketing the region's gas, and that he did not talk to anyone about this issue, and stressed that the Kurdistan region of Iraq does not have the ability. The productivity that allows it to export natural gas in the near future, which seems to contradict the statements of the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Massoud Barzani, this week.

Al-Barzanji said, "We have been working in the oil and gas field for 15 years, and we were only able to produce 50% of the needs of local consumption... Gas will not pass across the border anytime soon without meeting local consumption."

He added that the KAR Group is working to extend the existing local gas pipeline to the city of Dohuk in the region, and the flowing gas will be used for local consumption and to operate the power plant in the city located in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

Iraq in general - and the Kurdistan region of Iraq in particular - suffers from a chronic shortage of electricity, especially during the scorching summer months, and Iran supplies a large part of the energy and gas needed to operate the electricity network in Iraq.

                           Al-Barzanji said that he does not hold a government position to talk about marketing the region's gas (communication sites)

Justifications for the attack

Iran launched 12 ballistic missiles at Erbil, the largest city in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, on March 13, in an attack it said targeted Israeli "strategic centers", and came in response to an Israeli military attack in Syria that killed Iranian soldiers, and hit most of the Iranian missiles. Villa owned by Al-Barzanji.

Iraqi, Turkish and Western officials told Reuters this week that the attack was partly due to Israeli-backed plans to export natural gas from Kurdistan to Turkey and Europe.

The officials confirmed that discussions in this regard took place in the Al-Barzanji villa.

An Iraqi government official and a Western diplomat in Iraq pointed out that Al-Barzanji is known to host foreign officials and businessmen in his home, and that among them are Israelis.

The Iraqi security source and the former US official said that the Barzanji-owned Kar Oil Group was working to speed up the gas pipeline.

The former US official notes that the new pipeline will connect to an already completed line on the Turkish side of the border.

Iraqi and Turkish officials - who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity this week - stressed that they believed the attack was a multi-pronged message to US allies in the region, but that the main motivation was a plan to pump Kurdish gas to Turkey and Europe with the participation of Israel.

The office of Kurdistan Regional President Nechirvan Barzani denied holding any meetings with US and Israeli officials to discuss a pipeline in Villa Barzanji.

The Kurds deny any Israeli military or official presence on their land.

Masrour Barzani: The region has the ability to compensate for part of the energy shortage in Europe (communication sites)

gas export

The Prime Minister of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, Masrour Barzani, said this week that the region has the ability to compensate for part of the energy shortage in Europe, and considered - in a speech before an energy forum in Dubai - that the development of the oil and gas sector in the region may not be in the interest of energy-producing Iran.

He pointed out that the attempts to stop the region are not limited to missiles, but also there are institutions that are being manipulated, in reference to a decision of the Iraqi Federal Court, which considered the oil and gas law in the region unconstitutional, and demanded that the Kurdish authorities hand over crude supplies to the federal government.

The Prime Minister of Kurdistan described this decision as a "grave injustice", and indicated that he was negotiating with the federal government, and that he insisted on preserving constitutional rights, and stressed that the region had given reassurances to its trading partners and international organizations that it was still committed to respecting its contracts.