The US Department of Defense plans to deploy Patriot air defense / missile defense systems in Iraq, the appearance of which in this Middle Eastern state will automatically block the Russian S-300 and S-400 for official Baghdad, Eurasia Diary reports citing BulgarianMilitary.com.

Baghdad is currently trying to discourage Washington’s attempts to send its air defense and missile defense assets to Iraq, as this will make this country dependent on the work of American defense systems, which Baghdad is not at all happy with.

“To protect these American soldiers (in Iraq – ed.), Patriot air defense systems are likely to be installed,” the Fox News commentator reports with reference to senior US officials.

According to the channel, the US military did not try to intercept Iranian missiles due to the lack of missile defense systems. Senior Pentagon officials explained to the channel that rocket fire from Iran was considered “unlikely,” so the Patriot air defense systems were not deployed at an Iraqi base, RIA Novosti reported, citing American sources.

It should be clarified that Iraq itself is more interested in using Russian air defense / missile defense systems, since this will ensure the independent operation of such systems.