Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed S. Al Sudani announced Monday that during his visit to London, Iraq and Britain will sign a "strategic partnership," heralding a "new era" in their bilateral relations.
Sudani told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) during the flight from Baghdad that the agreement to be signed with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer will consolidate cooperation between Britain and Iraq and will be "one of the most important steps in relations between Iraq and the U.K."
The Iraqi prime minister's visit, during which he will also meet King Charles III, comes more than 20 years after Britain took part in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Sudani's trip would give "momentum" to the "historic" new relationship between the two countries, he told AFP.
He said there would also be a joint statement on bilateral security cooperation, referring to the new "arrangements" his country was planning ahead of the end of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS (Daesh) military presence in Iraq.
The U.S. maintains about 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 more in Syria as part of the campaign to prevent a resurgence of the Daesh terrorist group.
President Joe Biden's administration has agreed with Iraq to end the coalition's presence by September but stopped short of a complete withdrawal of the U.S. forces, whose presence has been opposed by Iran-aligned armed groups in Iraq.
