After securing a sanctions waiver from the United States, Iraq agreed to pay Iran $2.76 billion in gas and electricity debt, a senior official in the Iraqi foreign ministry said, Reuters added.

U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil and gas caused Iraq’s payments for Iranian gas imports to decrease and lead Iran to retaliate by cutting gas flows regularly.

Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Al-Sahhaf said in a brief statement that Hussein had made progress “regarding financial dues between Iraq and Iran during his discussion with his American counterpart in Riyadh” when asked about the funds.

Yahya Al-e Eshaq, head of the Iran-Iraq chamber of commerce, was quoted by Iranian news agencies as saying that “Part of Iran’s blocked funds in Iraq has been earmarked for haj pilgrims and portions have been used for basic goods.”

The Commercial Bank of Iraq would be used to transfer the monies, according to a source in the Iraqi foreign ministry, who also confirmed that they will be used to pay for Iranian pilgrims’ expenses and food imports from Iran.