Iraq, France sign agreements to enhance economic, defense capacities

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and French President Emmanuel Macron sponsored on Monday a ceremony to sign six different memoranda of understanding at the Élysée Palace in Paris.

These agreements aim to boost Iraq’s economic, defense, and infrastructural capacities through strategic partnerships with France.

The accords overseen by the two leaders include air defense, military supply, energy supplies, civil aviation, development finance, and youth and innovation support.

Both countries reached two significant security agreements. The first is a letter of intent signed by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense and Harmattan AI for strategic air defense collaboration.

The second is a declaration of intent with the French Ministry of the Armed Forces to procure military equipment to assist Iraq in rebuilding its defensive capabilities.

The Iraqi Ministry of Electricity and French energy giant TotalEnergies inked an important cooperation document involving a gas supply and sale deal. The agreement expands existing regional initiatives to recover associated gas for power plants.

The transportation ministries of both countries signed a declaration of intent to work directly on improving civil aviation operations.

The French and Iraqi foreign ministries signed a declaration of intent to deepen Iraq’s collaboration with the French Development Agency (AFD).

The final agreement establishes an official collaboration structure between the French and Iraqi foreign ministries to promote research, innovation, and professional prospects for young people.