‘New era’: Iraq prime minister says he will sign security deal with Britain

Mohammed Shia al-Sudani touts Iraq-UK ties in London visit, will sign security and strategic partnership deals

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Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani. Photo: Anadolu Agency / Pool via Reuters

Published: 7:10am, 14 Jan 2025Updated: 12:39pm, 14 Jan 2025

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said on Monday he would sign a bilateral security deal with Britain as well as a strategic partnership accord as he headed to London for an official visit against a backdrop of historic shifts in the Middle East.

Iraq is trying to avoid becoming a conflict zone once again amid a period of regional upheaval that has seen Iran’s allies Hamas degraded in Gaza, Hezbollah battered in Lebanon and Bashar al-Assad ousted in Syria.

A rare ally of both Washington and Tehran, Iraq’s balancing act has been tested by Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups’ attacks on Israel and on US troops in the country in the aftermath of the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war on October 7, 2023.

That has led to several rounds of tit-for-tat strikes that have since been contained, but some Iraqi officials fear an escalation after US president-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20.

Iraqi security forces on the outskirts of Baghdad. Photo: Reuters

“It is definitely an important timing, both as it concerns the path of Iraq’s relations with the UK and as a result of the development of the [regional] situation, which requires more consultations,” Sudani told Reuters on Monday while en route from Baghdad to London.