ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Turkey and France have agreed to supply Iraq with air defense systems after their governments granted approval, a lawmaker said on Sunday, with the withdrawal of the US-led coalition prompting Baghdad to scramble to acquire air defenses. 

“Intensive efforts are underway to secure Iraqi airspace, and Turkish approval has been granted to supply the country with air defense systems.” Mahmoud al-Shammari, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s security and defense committee, told the state-owned al-Sabah newspaper. 

The lawmaker said that a “similar agreement” with France was signed during Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s visit to the French capital earlier this month, “with the endorsement of the French Senate.” 

Iraq has been subject to hundreds of air and drone strikes amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, enduring attacks from both sides of the conflict. The US has targeted Iran-backed Iraqi militias while Iran has struck US military bases and Iranian Kurdish opposition groups based in the Kurdistan Region. 

In the face of such attacks, Zaidi directed that the timeframe for modernizing Iraq’s air defense capabilities be shortened from six to three years. 

Iraq has also courted other countries, such as South Korea, for air defense systems. In 2024, the country placed an order for eight KM-SAM batteries, a system that made its combat debut in the UAE in March to intercept Iranian drones and missiles. 

In August, Zaidi chaired a meeting of the Air Defense Command to discuss plans to develop its capabilities and contracts with foreign companies to equip it with “advanced specialized systems” and to enhance Iraq's capabilities to monitor and control airspace.