On 9 January, Iraq’s Parliament Security and Defence Committee chairman, Mohammad Ridha, said that Iraq and Russia had resumed talks on an agreement to purchase S-300 defence systems, Eurasia Diary reports citing Sputnik.
Iraq’s Ambassador to Iran Saad Jawad Qandil confirmed on Monday that Baghdad was currently negotiating the purchase of S-300 air defence systems from Moscow.
"It is possible that Iraq will buy the systems," Qandil said.
He noted that Iraq was seeking to diversify its weapons imports, adding that Baghdad had arms-transfer agreements with Moscow.
Iraq’s Parliament Security and Defence Committee chairman previously sought to purchase the Russian systems but talks were stalled amid sanctions threats from Washington.
The S-300 is a long-range surface-to-air missile system, initially designed in the USSR in the late sixties, and first deployed in 1979.