Iraq signs Ooredoo contract to route internet traffic to Europe

BAGHDAD — Iraq has signed a contract with Qatar’s Ooredoo to carry international internet capacity across Iraqi territory toward Europe, with work under way and the connection expected to take three to four months, the communications minister said.

“A contract was signed with Qatar’s Ooredoo, which is one of the major internet companies in the world and a global name and brand,” Mustafa Sanad told the Iraqi News Agency. “The mere entry of its name into Iraq and the passage of its cable through the country will add a lot for us.”

Iraq was chosen over other regional routes “first because it is the shortest, and second because of a new pricing policy we adopted in our government,” he said, describing the aim as making Iraq “a safe and fast corridor for the internet” with competitive latency. The link will run underground from al-Faw in the south to northern outlets including Rabia, which he said reduces exposure to weather and to regional conflict: “The infrastructure has nothing to do with weather conditions or the wars in the region, because the cable is underground.” The government also fast-tracked security approvals from the intelligence and national security agencies on the company’s behalf, he said.

Sanad said arrangements involving Qatar’s JPI and Kuwaiti companies have also been approved, and that Saudi Arabia’s STC is moving toward a similar agreement.

Iraq has been pursuing this for years. The Communications Ministry signed an agreement with Ooredoo in March 2025 for a fourth submarine cable, a 2,000-kilometre system connecting Gulf states to Europe through Iraq and Turkey and adding more than 700 terabytes of capacity. It signed a transit agreement in May 2025 allowing data to move from al-Faw to the Ibrahim Khalil crossing, and an agreement with GCX in February 2024 for capacity transiting Iraq on the Falcon submarine cable to al-Faw.