Iraq has been hit by electricity blackouts, which impacted all of the country’s provinces, according to a statement issued by the country’s Electricity Ministry.

The blackouts initially struck on 4 March, and the ministry has since said that they were triggered by a “sudden drop in gas supplies to the Rumaila power plant” in the southern province of Basra.

This led to a rapid loss of 1,900MW, which triggered the nationwide grid failure.

The Electricity Ministry said that work was under way to gradually restore power.

Iraq’s oil and gas sector is facing mounting challenges amid the US and Israel’s ongoing war with Iran.

In the south of the country, oil exports have been paralysed by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and, in the country’s northern region of Iraqi Kurdistan, exports via the Iraq-Turkiye Pipeline have fallen to zero.

The closure of export routes has led to production stopping at some of the country’s biggest oil fields.

This has limited the country’s ability to produce the associated natural gas that is gathered during oil production and used to fuel the country’s power stations.