Iraq and UK look to boost ties in ‘landmark’ wide-ranging agreement

Deal includes a trade package worth up to £12.3 billion and a bilateral defence pact

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, and Iraqi premier Mohammed Shia Al Sudani at Downing Street in London on January 14. EPA

Iraq and Britain on Tuesday signed a “landmark” partnership and co-operation agreement that includes a trade package worth up to £12.3 billion ($14.98 billion) and a bilateral defence deal, the Iraqi and British prime ministers said in a joint statement.

The wide-ranging deal, envisaging more than 10 times the total of bilateral trade in 2024, was announced after a meeting between Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani and British leader Keir Starmer in London.

“The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the vision of a prosperous, sovereign Iraq through a new partnership focused on trade and investment, deepening educational and cultural ties, as well as tackling security, migration and climate-change challenges,” according to the statement.

The pact will help Iraq to benefit from UK private sector expertise on water, energy, telecoms and defence infrastructure, and to secure future investment projects in the clean energy, pharmaceutical, logistics and financial services sectors, it said.

It includes a £1.2 billion project in which British-made power transmission systems will be used for a grid interconnection project between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, and a £500 million plan to upgrade Al Qayyarah airbase in northern Iraq, according to the statement.

A water infrastructure project by a UK-led consortium that will help provide clean water in arid southern and western Iraq is also part of the deal, it added. The project would be worth up to £5.3 billion in UK exports.

A UK company will build the Basra Water Project, large-scale infrastructure for desalination and water processing plants to provide clean water for three million Iraqis in the southern province, worth up to £3.3 billion. British companies have been appointed to remove mines, the legacy of decades of war across all of Iraq in a contract worth £330 million.

Both prime ministers also signed the Joint Statement on the Strategic Bilateral Defence Relationship that “establishes the basis for a new era in security co-operation and paves the way for a new agreement to reflect the ambition of both countries", they said in the statement.

“This deepens our defence co-operation for the future, including through the provision of UK-Iraq military education exchange, UK advisory support on capability and institutional reform, and the development of defence industrial partnerships,” they added.

Illegal Migration

On migration and efforts to fight organised people smugglers, the statement said both leaders “committed to enhance vital migration co-operation between the UK and Iraq”, adding that they agreed on the principles of a specific returns arrangement that delivers on a joint commitment to ensure those who have no right to be in the UK can be returned swiftly.

Iraqi protesters opposed to a migration returns agreement with the UK gathered outside Downing Street. As Mr Al Sudani’s car left, they began chanting, and one of them threw a projectile at one of the vehicles in his convoy, although it appeared to have missed.

The group then chased the vehicles as they drove down Whitehall. Police officers chased them down the central London street, restraining them as they tried to follow the cars. The group came to a stop as the cars drove off, and eventually left the location after speaking with the police.

An Iraqi protester demonstrates against the visit of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani to London on January 14. EPA

One protester identified himself as a members of a group opposed to the migration returns agreement.

Farman Haji, a member of the group called the Dakok Organisation for Rights and Freedom, told PA that Iraqi lives would be “in danger back home” if they were returned.

“We want to save a thousand, thousand lives in UK … Iraqi people, to not send them back home. That is what we [are] here today for,” Mr Haji said.

Dakok is a registered charity in the UK which is intended to serve members of the Kurdish community there.

Mr Al Sudani began an official visit to the UK on Monday amid historic geopolitical shifts in the Middle East. Iraq is trying to avoid becoming a conflict zone again amid a period of regional upheaval that has seen Iran's allies Hamas degraded in Gaza and Hezbollah battered in Lebanon during wars with Israel, and Bashar Al Assad toppled in Syria.

Major oil deal

Late on Tuesday, Iraq's Oil Ministry signed an agreement with British Petroleum (BP) to develop four oilfields and curb flaring associated gas in the northern province of Kirkuk, the ministry announced on Wednesday.

The final deal is set to be signed the first week of February, Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani told reporters. He said it would be larger than a 2023 TotalEnergies deal in Basra, valued around $27 billion.

The project would increase the four oilfields' production to up to 500,000 barrels per day from about 350,000 bpd that would flow to refineries in the north currently operating below capacity, Mr Abdel-Ghani added. "These are big investments," he said.

Earlier Tuesday, Britain's King Charles III hosted Mr Al Sudani at Buckingham Palace in central London.

Britain's King Charles greets Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani at Buckingham Palace on January 14. AFP

“The meeting reviewed bilateral co-operation between Iraq and the United Kingdom and explored opportunities for establishing productive partnerships in various economic and developmental fields,” a statement from Mr Al Sudani’s office said.

Discussions also touched on collaboration in climate change challenges and opportunities for enhancing cultural co-operation, it added, saying that the Iraqi PM reaffirmed “Iraq’s commitment to strengthening constructive bilateral relations in various sectors to promote mutual and sustainable interests for both the Iraqi and British peoples”.

King Charles III hailed the “historical ties” between Iraq and the UK, and underscored the “importance both governments place on advancing common interests and enhancing mutual understanding" across several areas", the statement added.