On March 1st and 2nd, the Metropolitan Support and Assistance Ship (BSAM) Seine made a stopover at the Umm Qasr naval base in Iraq. This was the French Navy’s first stopover in Iraq since 2011 and was part of the strengthening of bilateral cooperation between France and Iraq.
On March 1, the BSAM Seine was welcomed at the Iraqi naval base of Umm Qasr. This stopover illustrated the strengthening of cooperation with the Iraqi partner in the naval domain.
This stopover was the subject of joint exercises between the French and Iraqi naval forces and exchanges with numerous Iraqi authorities. Rear Admiral Lainé, Commander of the Indian Ocean Maritime Zone and Commander of the French Forces in the United Arab Emirates (COMFOR FFEAU) , and the crew of the BSAM Seine welcomed on board the Chief of Staff of the Iraqi Navy, General Mazin Addul Wahed.
Committed to the commitments made with Iraq, France is continuing and strengthening bilateral cooperation in support of Iraq’s stability and sovereignty, including in the naval domain.
With more than 700 permanently deployed soldiers and to those operating in the Indian Ocean, the French Forces stationed in the United Arab Emirates (FFEAU) constitute the most easterly French forward operational base abroad. It supports and provides command of military assets deployed in particular in the Middle East and the Indian Ocean, including the Arabian Gulf. Thanks to their exceptional training conditions, the FFEAU also allows French soldiers to be trained for combat actions in desert environments and urban areas. As commander of the Indian Ocean maritime zone (ALINDIEN) and commander of the French forces in the United Arab Emirates (COMFOR FFEAU), ALINDIEN-COMFOR EAU exercises its authority over an area of responsibility extending from the south of the Suez Canal to the Strait of Malacca and the western coasts of Australia, a theater of power competition between Asia and Europe and a hotbed of illicit activities. Within this area, which includes 14 nations bordering the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian-Persian Gulf, it implements the French defense strategy and leads operational military relations.