France agrees to keep military cooperation with Iraq after coalition mission ends

PARIS — France and Iraq agreed to continue military cooperation after the international coalition’s mission ends this month, in the first concrete post-Sept. 30 security arrangement Baghdad has announced with any coalition country, and signed a letter of intent on air defence systems 12 days before the coalition leaves.

The cooperation will include strengthening Iraqi capabilities in border protection and supporting Iraqi sovereignty over its territory, under a bilateral framework whose terms are to be agreed later, according to a joint statement issued after Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s visit on Sunday and Monday. The two countries also agreed a “strategic roadmap” for future Iraqi Armed Forces purchases from French companies.

Air defence featured heavily. Iraq’s Defence Ministry signed a letter of intent with the French company Harmattan AI on air defence systems, and a declaration of intent with the French armed forces ministry on supplying military equipment. Zaidi said he would support further talks between French companies and the ministry covering aeromobility, artillery, counter-drone systems, air defence and surveillance. The spokesperson for the commander-in-chief said last week that Iraq expected air defence systems from South Korea, Turkey and the United States; France was not named then. Coalition aircraft shot down 10 bomb-laden drones over Erbil governorate on Sept. 2.

President Emmanuel Macron praised the effort to bring weapons under state control, calling it “a key step toward strengthening the rule of law and consolidating state sovereignty.” That came as Iraqi language on the policy has been shifting: Zaidi told President Donald Trump in July there would be no justification for armed factions after Sept. 30, his security adviser Qasim al-Araji has since said the date marks the start of talks rather than a deadline, and Nouri al-Maliki said this month that disarmament was no longer the term being used in favour of regulating or containing weapons. Macron also praised Iraq’s “balanced foreign policy” and both called for efforts “to de-escalate regional tensions.”

On energy, Zaidi met TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanné separately. “The company has important oil investments in Iraq amounting to $12 billion, with plans to increase them in the future to $16 billion,” Pouyanné said. The Electricity Ministry and TotalEnergies signed a cooperation protocol on a gas supply and sale contract, and the government and the company agreed to open talks on further projects described as large-scale investments to raise oil production and improve energy efficiency. Zaidi set out plans to reach 10 million barrels a day within five years, part of the 2027-2030 strategy he reviewed with Oil Ministry officials on Sept. 1, and said Iraq had begun expanding exploration areas. He invited the company to an international energy conference being prepared in Baghdad.

TotalEnergies is building the Gas Growth Integrated Project in Basra, where contracts signed last year cover a central processing facility designed for 210,000 barrels of oil and 163 million standard cubic feet of gas a day and a gas plant of 600 million cubic feet a day. It began construction in March last year on the Basra Sun solar project, designed to supply 1,000 megawatts through four units with nearly 2 million panels.

The other agreements covered French Development Agency financing, civil aviation cooperation between France’s civil aviation directorate and the Iraqi General Company for Air Navigation Services, and a declaration on youth, research and innovation including artificial intelligence and climate change. An economic forum in Paris brought together 50 French companies to discuss energy security, infrastructure, industry, defence, services and healthcare. Both governments said they supported Iraq’s anti-corruption programmes, calling them “a fundamental pillar for strengthening the rule of law.” The leaders also backed freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.