The Trump administration has agreed to extend Iraq’s waiver of exemption from U.S sanctions against Iran for another 90 days. Ashraf Ghani, the president of Afghanistan says Afghanistan’s exports to Iran have also been exempted.

An anonymous source in the state department told CNN: “Although this exemption’s goal is to help Iraq cover its needs, we will continue our talks with our Iraqi allies about sanctions on Iran.”

The last waiver for Iraq expired on March 19.

At the same time, the president of Afghanistan asked Afghan merchants to export goods to Iran. He said they can also import goods from countries who cannot sell them to Iran and then export them to Iran. Previously Chabahar port was exempt from the sanctions.

Although Iraq is the second largest oil producer in the world, due to years of war and lack of investment, the country has a shortage of electricity and imports 45 percent of its electricity from Iran. Iraq also has problems paying Iran back for the electricity and owes Tehran. In Rouhani’s recent trip to Iraq it was announced that Iraq has repaid part of its debt to Tehran.

Iraq also imports 28 million cubic meters of natural gas from Iran every day. Iran is Iraq’s third largest trade partner.

The United States understands that pressuring Iraq more would lead to instability in the country and Iraq cannot suddenly lose a third of its energy.

Trump administration plans on reducing Iran’s oil export to under a million by May.