Russia pledges unwavering support for Iraq in anti-terror fight

Russia has reaffirmed its support for Iraq in its battles against terrorism, as the Arab country steps up efforts to clear its soil of the remnants of the Daesh terror group.

On Friday, Mikhail Bogdanov, Russia’s special presidential representative for the Middle East and Africa, sat down for talks with Baghdad’s Ambassador to Moscow Abdul-Rahman Hamid al-Husseini over issues of bilateral and international significance.

The two sides exchanged views on ways to promote friendly bilateral ties in various fields, including in economy and trade.

Bogdanov and Husseini discussed a range of regional topics, including the Palestinian cause, the Syria conflict, and the Persian Gulf region besides the socio-political developments in Iraq.

The Russian side reiterated Moscow’s unwavering supports for Iraq’s efforts to uproot terrorism and extremism.

Moscow and Baghdad have held several rounds of talks in recent years on enhancing their defense cooperation. Russian energy firms have also invested billions of dollars in the Iraqi oil industry.

In 2015, a year after the Daesh terror group emerged in Iraq and Syria, Russia and Iraq together with Iran and Syria formed a joint intelligence-sharing committee against the Takfiri outfit, with its operation rooms based in Baghdad’s Green Zone and Damascus.

The coalition’s members have since held several meetings mainly focused on providing the Iraqi and Syrian national armies with intelligence about the whereabouts of Takfiri terrorists in the two Middle Eastern states.

Iraq ended Daesh’s territorial rule in the country in December 2017 after a three-year counter-terrorism military campaign.

Currently, the Iraqi army, backed by the allied Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), is working to cleanse the country of the remnants of Daesh, which have been staging launching sporadic attacks in the hope of regrouping and unleashing a new era of terror and destruction.

Those attacks have seen a sharp rise since January 2020, when the US assassinated Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and senior PMU commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who had played a key role in liberating Iraq from Daesh.

The assassination soured Iraq’s ties with the US, with Baghdad deciding to enter negotiations with Moscow over the purchase of advanced Russian-made S-400 air defense system.

Russia ready to sell Iraq S-400 missile systems upon Baghdad request: Ambassador

The Russian ambassador to Iraq says Moscow is ready to provide Baghdad with the S-400 upon an official request from the Arab country.

Warry of closer Baghdad-Moscow military ties, the US has threatened Iraq with sanctions if it goes ahead with such a deal.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein paid a visit last November to Moscow last, where he held talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, over the future of Moscow-Baghdad economic and defense cooperation.

Lavrov said back then that Russia was ready to meet “any Iraqi needs for Russian-made military products.”

“Our country has traditionally played and continues to play a very important and significant role in ensuring Iraq’s defense capability and equipping its army and security forces, including in the context of continuing terrorist threats,” he added.

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