(23 Apr 2025)
IRAQ FRANCE
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
LENGTH: 3:05
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Baghdad, Iraq – 23 April 2025
1. Various French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot and his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein at the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2. Wide of news conference
3. SOUNDBITE (French) Jean-Noel Barrot, French Foreign Minister:
"It is essential that Iraq is not drawn into conflicts it did not choose in this regard. I wish to commend the efforts of the prime minister’s government to preserve the country’s stability. It is also crucial to continue together the fight against terrorism in the region, including in Iraq, as we have done tirelessly in recent years as part of the international coalition against Daesh at the request of the Iraqi authorities. We cannot let ten years of success against terrorism be questioned. France remains ready to contribute as much as our Iraqi partners wish, to this military and security effort."
4.Cutaway
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Fuad Hussein, Iraqi Foreign Minister:
"We touched on the defense issues and the purchase of weapons from France. We also addressed cultural and educational issues."
6. Cutaway
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Fuad Hussein, Iraqi Foreign Minister:
"Syria was part of the discussion between the two parties, and how to cooperate and deal with the Syrian situation in order to support Syria towards stability. The stability of Syria is important for Iraq, but it is also important for France and Europe."
8. Cutaway
9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Fuad Hussein, Iraqi Foreign Minister:
"The other topic we discussed was about the ongoing negotiations between the American side and the Iranian, the Islamic Republic. We had announced our full support for the negotiations and the necessity of reaching results and understandings between the two parties to keep the region away from the danger of war."
3. Barrot and Hussein shaking hands
STORYLINE:
The French and Iraqi foreign ministers said they discussed security cooperation and regional issues, during a meeting in Baghdad on Wednesday.
France’s Jean-Noël Barrot said during his first trip to Iraq that it was "crucial to continue together the fight against terrorism in the region, including in Iraq as we have done tirelessly in recent years."
"France remains ready to contribute as much as our Iraqi partners wish, to this military and security effort," he added.
France has 950 soldiers stationed in Iraq as part of a U.S.-led international coalition to fight the Islamic State militant group.
IS at one point controlled large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria but was defeated in Iraq in July 2017, when Iraqi forces recaptured the key northern city of Mosul.
Nevertheless, cells of the group continue to carry out periodic attacks.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said he and Barrot discussed the purchase of weapons from France, as well as cultural and educational cooperation.
He added that they talked about the ongoing negotiations between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.
"We had announced our full support for the negotiations and the necessity of reaching results and understandings between the two parties to keep the region away from the danger of war," Hussein said.
Iraq, which has strong ties with both the United States and Iran, has sought to position itself as a regional mediator.
It has hosted talks between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia before they reached a deal to normalize relations.
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