The UK and Iraq will sign strategic partnership and security agreements during Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al-Sudani's visit to London on January 14, where he will meet King Charles III and Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The centrepiece of the agreements is a GBP12.3bn ($15bn) export package, approximately ten times last year's bilateral trade volume, alongside new cooperation on tackling illegal migration and strengthening border security.

"Today marks a new era in UK-Iraq cooperation, which will deliver mutual benefits from trade to defence, as we continue to work together towards stability in the wider region," Starmer said in Downing Street.

The leaders will sign a partnership and cooperation agreement (PCA) leveraging British private sector expertise in water, energy, telecommunications and defence infrastructure. The deal includes GBP66.5mn worth of equipment to strengthen Iraq's borders and disrupt smuggling networks.

In an article published in The Sunday Telegraph, Al-Sudani wrote that Baghdad seeks to strengthen its strategic partnership with London amid "unprecedented and escalating events in the Middle East, which not only threaten the region but risk broader conflicts."

“The relationship between Iraq and the United Kingdom has undergone significant transformations over recent decades, from the reconstruction phase post-2003 to the crucial role the UK played in providing military and intelligence support during Iraq’s fight against IS,” al-Sudani wrote in the paper.

British Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds called the agreement "another vote of confidence in Britain," noting that UK Export Finance support would "give UK and Iraqi business more certainty and help lead to growth and genuine shared benefits for both our economies."

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the agreement builds on a November security deal with Iraq, adding: "Our world-first security agreement with Iraq is already showing its impact. By strengthening border security with our Border Security Command, enhancing intelligence-sharing, and providing additional funding to support Iraq's law enforcement capabilities, we're targeting people-smuggling gangs where it hurts."

The visit follows Starmer's December trip to the Gulf region aimed at supporting Middle East stability. The leaders will also mark a decade since the establishment of the Global Coalition's mission in Iraq and Operation Inherent Resolve, which led to the territorial defeat of the Islamic State (ISIS).

Earlier in November, Cooper visited Iraq as part of the build-up to the agreement, where she signed a landmark security agreement with the country to tackle Iraqi smuggling gangs.

Cooper's three-day visit to Iraq included GBP800,000 ($1.01mn) in British funding for border security training and anti-smuggling initiatives across Iraq and its Kurdistan region.

"These landmark commitments send a clear signal to the criminal smuggling gangs that we are determined to work across the globe to go after them," Cooper said.

Iraqis and Syrians now make up the biggest groups applying for asylum in the UK. Iraqi Kurds specifically have been the largest sub-group from that country. The package includes GBP300,000 for border security training focused on immigration crime and narcotics, GBP200,000 for projects in Kurdistan and GBP300,000 for broader crime-fighting initiatives.