LONDON (Reuters) - Iran said on Tuesday it had resumed supplies of electricity to Iraq and other neighboring states 10 days earlier, after shortages in Iraqi cities sparked unrest in July.

Tehran stopped supplying electricity to Iraq in July due to unpaid bills and because of a rise in Iranian consumption during the summer.

The power shortage in Iraq sparked protests in Basra and other cities, as people blamed what they called an inept and corrupt Iraqi government.

A number of protests have also broken out in Iran in recent months over regular power cuts and water shortages.

Iranian government says a seasonal drought has dried out rivers, reducing hydropower production from dams.

Deputy Energy Minister Mahmoudreza Haghifam said Iran had restarted electricity exports to Iraq, Tasnim news agency reported. “We are now exporting 200 to 250 megawatt of electricity to Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan,” he said.

Saudi Arabia offered last month to sell electricity to Baghdad at a discount, part of an effort by the kingdom to curb the influence of its rival Iran in Iraq.