"Iraq and Cuba affected by power outages due to U.S. pressures and attacks on Iran Baghdad reported outages in Iranian gas supply to its power plants, and Havana blames US blockade for island supply outages."

View of Baghdad in Iraq, March 4, 2026. © Murtadha Al-Sudani / Anadolu via Getty Images

Both Iraq and Cuba have sunk into nationwide power failures. The network in this mediate East country collapsed after a abrupt drop in gas supply to a large power plant in Basra, and the failure on the Caribbean island is attributed to chronic fuel shortages, aggravated by the American blockade of Venezuelan oil.

A day before the accident in Iraq a spokesperson for the Ministry of Electricity said ‘incomplete deliveries’ Gas from neighbouring Iran already affects power plants.

Iran has been facing a massive American-Israeli air offensive since Saturday.

A separate power plant has besides been shut down in the central state of Salah ad-Din, and local police have explicitly denied reports of an attack on it, as reported by the State Press Agency INA.

Iraq is based on Iranian gas in 30-40% of its energy production.

This addiction is the direct consequence of decades of abroad intervention in this country.

Prior to the Gulf War in 1991, the network, though sanctioned, mostly met demand.

The war destroyed 75% of its manufacturing capacity, and the invasion under US command in 2003 caused a catastrophic breakdown, falling to little than 10% of its erstwhile production.

On Wednesday, power outages besides affected Cuba, and an extended power outage plunged about two-thirds of the island, including the capital city of Havana, into darkness.

According to the Cuban Ministry of Energy and Mining, the power outage was due to the closure of 1 of the largest thermal plants on the island.

Persistent fuel shortages in this island country have been seriously aggravated by the U.S. blockade of oil from Venezuela.

Since the hijacking of the U.S. president of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro in January, Washington has taken over many tankers sailing to Cuba.

The Government of Cuba has long attributed its economical crisis to decades of US sanctions, which it claims straight contribute to the deficiency of investment in the energy sector and the decaying electricity grid.

In this context, US president Donald Trump suggested last week that the United States could carry out ‘friendly acquisition of Cuba’, claiming that the government of this island state stands on the brink of collapse and actively negotiates with Washington.

Translated by Google Translator

source:https://www.rt.com/news/633916-iraq-cuba-blackouts-us-pressure/