Al-Zaydi Seeks Military Partnership with Washington After International Coalition

Baghdad seeks to establish a bilateral military partnership with the United States after the conclusion of the international coalition's mission, according to official statements.

Spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, Sabah al-Numan, said that the upcoming talks between Prime Minister Ali al-Zaydi and the US Secretary of Defense will focus on the future of military relations between the two countries, noting that Baghdad aims to build a partnership in the areas of training, armament, and intelligence.

Al-Numan confirmed that the security situation in Iraq is stable thanks to the readiness of the armed forces, but he did not clarify the financial cost or timeline for implementing this partnership.

Al-Numan added that the Iraqi government considers the file of restricting weapons to state hands a purely sovereign decision, in which no external party participates, according to the directives of the religious authority and the parliament.

He indicated that the coming days will see other factions joining the official security institutions, without details on the mechanisms or legal guarantees.

Al-Numan denied any coordination with Washington regarding the weapons restriction file, affirming that the implementation mechanisms were set solely by the prime minister.

And he said: "The decision is entirely Iraqi, and no external party participates in its formulation or management."

Background of the visit: Al-Zaydi arrived in Washington at the head of a high-level delegation comprising government officials and investors, in an official visit lasting seven days.

The visit comes amid a lack of transparent details about the commitments of the new military partnership and its implications for Iraqi sovereignty and the public budget.