French President Emmanuel Macron met his Iraqi counterpart yesterday on his first official visit to Baghdad, where he insisted the war-scarred country should reassert its "sovereignty" despite simmering US-Iran tensions.

Coming straight from a two-day trip to crisis-hit Lebanon, Macron is the most prominent world leader to visit Iraq since Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi came to power in May.

The trip aims to "launch an initiative alongside the United Nations to support a process of sovereignty," Macron announced on his final night in Beirut.

In Baghdad, he voiced his support for his Iraqi counterpart Barham Saleh to help Iraq fight Islamic State group sleeper cells and resist foreign interference.

"Iraq has been going through a challenging time for several years, with war and terrorism," Macron said.

"You have a transition to lead. France will be by your side so the international community can help," he added.

But there were few details on the much-vaunted "sovereignty" initiative, and Iraqi officials told AFP they were not expecting announcements of new financial or military aid.

Saleh thanked Macron for France's support in the anti-IS fight and said he hoped Macron would pay a longer visit to Iraq in 2021.

After dictator Saddam Hussein was toppled by a 2003 US-led invasion  -- in which France did not take part -- Iraq was ravaged by waves of sectarian conflict.

That culminated in IS capturing swathes of the country six years ago, before the jihadists were beaten back with international support including a US-led coalition that did include French forces.

Iraq has been caught for years between its two main allies Iran and the US, a balancing act that has become increasingly tortured since Washington's withdrawal in 2018 from a multilateral nuclear deal with Tehran.

France, one of the key remaining backers of the 2015 agreement, called for de-escalation after a US strike on Baghdad in January killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and prompted Iran to launch missiles against US troops in Iraq.