Will Russia Reinforce Iraq's Air Defenses?
... would have to pay an immense political cost, as Russian missiles are subject to US sanctions. The contract on the S-400 or even S-300 (both systems are produced by the company Almaz-Antey) may expose Iraq to such sanctions. That said, the threat of sanctions did not prevent China, Turkey or India from buying the weapons. Russia, in turn, should it sell defense systems to Iraq, may find that maintaining its “special relations” with Israel is challenging. Second, Iraq can be certain that Moscow takes this request seriously, considering that it strives to maintain stability in this country and in the region in general, and keep its own interests there intact. The interests primarily ...