Under the title "Unrest in Iraq: Who is Targeting Power Production Stations?", Sky News Arabia reported that, at a time when various regions of Iraq are experiencing a severe heatwave, electricity has been cut off in several Iraqi cities and towns due to Iran's total disconnection of power to Iraq. Iraqis reacted with widespread anger to reports of armed groups "unknown" targeting many electricity production stations, transmission lines, and main power towers.
Observers noted the existence of a comprehensive project by the targeting entities aimed at increasing pressures on Iraqi citizens and creating a linkage and dependence for Iraq on Iran in the field of obtaining electric power. In recent days, Iraqi governmental agencies announced that the national electricity network had been subjected to dozens of scattered attacks, resulting in seven deaths and over 15 injuries in a single day, along with more than 60 main lines completely out of service.
Observers pointed to the degree of coordination among the executed operations, as most of the attacks on Sunday occurred in the western desert areas, in the cities of Haditha, Al-Qaim, and Al-Ramadi in Anbar province. The day before, attacks had taken place in the western sector of Kirkuk province, around the Dibis area, prompting observers to state that the various perpetrators belong to a single organizational cell.
**Numerous Difficulties**
A security source from the Iraqi Ministry of Interior explained in an interview with Sky News Arabia the difficulties faced by his ministry and the security apparatuses connected with it in preserving the extensive network for electricity production and distribution in the country: "There are about fifty thousand electricity transmission towers in different parts of the country, over an actual area estimated at around 300,000 square kilometers, a large part of which consists of arid desert areas, where security operations occur between the Iraqi army, security forces, and extremist terrorist organizations. If each tower requires ten rotating guards, then it means that half of the Iraqi army would need to be devoted to serving and guarding these towers."
Iraqi researcher Saadoun Jumaa responded to the justifications of the Iraqi Ministry of Interior, saying, "Iraqi security and military apparatuses are trying to imply that targeting electricity stations and towers in the country is merely an issue of security and military. However, the fluidity and undue confidence with which those involved execute their actions indicate that they rely on a political weight that can protect them, and that their actions serve a political project targeting the economy and sabotaging Iraq's resources. This resembles the targeting of Iraqi civil activists over the past three years, as the core of the issue is political, not just security confrontations."
**Gang Cells**
The majority of Iraqis on social media clearly indicated the role of cells from small gangs managed by a regional entity that does not want Iraq to achieve electrical independence, just as it does not desire any other form of independence. Social media users demanded that the Iraqi government disclose the true identity of a single party that has been arrested due to these crimes to determine whether the operations have a political identity or are merely criminal acts.
Activists on social media expressed skepticism regarding a statement issued by the ISIS terrorist organization, which claimed responsibility for some of these operations, including the targeting of a power station north of Samarra.
**Hidden Objectives**
Traditionally, Iraq has imported gas from Iran to operate its power generation stations and has not been able, over the years, to establish infrastructure that meets the country's needs. These needs have accumulated Iranian debts on Iraq estimated at around four billion dollars, which Iraq cannot repay due to U.S. sanctions on Iran, as Iraq imports about 1.7 billion cubic feet of gas from Iran daily and will remain in this situation permanently unless electricity is produced locally. Iraq's electricity needs amount to 30 gigawatts, two-thirds of which it generates locally, while the rest is imported.
According to Iraqi security researcher Zakwan Sharif, the objectives of the targeting entities can be summarized as follows: "The actors perceive that the two Iraqi strategic projects in the field of electricity, whether through signing agreements with the American National Electricity Company or Siemens of Germany, which promised to meet Iraq's electricity needs within a year, would cut a primary source for electricity suppliers to Iraq." Sharif added in his conversation with Sky News Arabia, "Leaked information from some security agencies indicates that the actors belong to different areas of Iraq, working as small independent cells in their local areas to engage in those actions, which are centrally managed by a known entity that benefits from such weakness in Iraq's electrical infrastructure, an issue that the central government does not acknowledge."
