Russia begins shipping primarily weapon shipments to combat terrorism to Iraq.

Russia begins shipping primarily weapon shipments to combat terrorism to Iraq.(PressTV).

Obama: If We Work Hard, Afghanistan Could Be a Success...Like Iraq!

Russia has begun shipping arms to Iraq under a historic multi-billion-dollar contract signed between Baghdad and Moscow last year.

Ali al-Musawi, top media advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, told Russia Today on Thursday that the agreement “entails primarily weapon shipments to combat terrorism.”

Baghdad and Moscow signed the $4.3-billion contract in October 2012, making Russia Iraq’s largest arms supplier after the US, but Iraqi authorities announced a month later that the deal had been annulled over Maliki's concerns about "corruption" within his own team.

However, Anatoly Isaykin, the director general of Russia’s state-run arms trader Rosoboronexport, said in February that the agreement was not canceled, but it has not come into effect yet.

Musawi went on to say, “We really did have suspicions about this contract,” adding, “But in the end the deal was signed. We have currently started the process of implementing one of the stages of this contract.”

The Iraqi official also stated that Baghdad does not have any plan to acquire “offensive weapons” and said, “Bagdad only strives for securing its own sovereignty, defense of its wealth and fight against terrorism.”

Reports at the time of inking the deal indicated that it involved Iraq’s purchase of 30 Mi-28 attack helicopters and 42 Pantsir-S1 surface-to-air missile systems.

Musawi said Iraq was primarily interested in possessing helicopters in an effort to enable its army to hunt down the terrorists staging attacks across the country.

Iraq has been grappling with a spike in bombings and shooting attacks over the past months.

'Baku grants Israel use of its air bases', Obama Admin:"we're not happy about it,".

'Baku grants Israel use of its air bases', Obama Admin:"we're not happy about it,".(JPost).
Azerbaijan has granted Israel access to airbases in its territory along Iran's northern border for potential use in a military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, a report published Wednesday in Foreign Policy magazine quoted senior US officials as saying. "The Israelis have bought an airfield," an official said, "and the airfield is called Azerbaijan."Even if Israel doesn't use the fields for a direct air strike on Iran, Azerbaijan could still prove useful for Jerusalem's interests in the region. The bases could be used as a jumping point for IDF search-and-rescue units, the report quoted a US intelligence official as saying. According to the Foreign Policy report by journalist Mark Perry, the Obama administration believes the Jerusalem-Baku relationship is raising the risk of an Israeli strike on Iran. Senior US officials have said that Israel's military expansion into Azerbaijan is complicating US efforts to defuse Israeli-Iranian tensions. "We're watching what Israel is doing in Azerbaijan. And we're not happy about it," one official said. The relationship between Israel and the predominantly Muslim country on Iran's northern border is believed to be robust. The Foreign Policy report quoted a 1995 article in The Jerusalem Post as saying bilateral relations started in 1994 and have blossomed ever since. "Strauss ice cream, cell phones produced by Motorola's Israeli division, Maccabi beer, and other Israeli imports are ubiquitous [in Azerbaijan]," the Jerusalem Post article stated. The unlikely bilateral relationship has taken center stage in the media this year. In January, Azeri authorities implicated an Iranian citizen in a plot to kill Jewish teachers at a Jewish school in Baku. A report published last month in The Times of London said that Azerbaijan is teeming with Mossad agents working to collect intelligence on the Islamic Republic of Iran, quoting an unnamed agent as saying that Baku was "ground zero for intelligence work." Later in the month, Israeli officials confirmed a $1.6 billion defense deal with Baku that will see Jerusalem supplying the former Soviet state with unmanned aerial vehicles and missile defense systems.
SIPRI reports that the $1.6-billion arms deal, signed between Azerbaijan and Israel in 2011, envisages the purchase by Baku of the Barak-8 missile system, 75 Barak-8 missiles, the EL/M-2080 Green Pine radar, Gabriel-5 anti-ship missile, five Heron unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and five Searcher UAVs.How accurate is this information? Almost all the information we have regarding Israeli arms sales to Azerbaijan is uncertain. It has been widely reported that the Israeli company IAI signed a deal worth USD1.6 billion with Azerbaijan in late 2011/early 2012, but the exact content of the deal is still not known. Reports generally agree that at least one Green Pine radar is included. However, whereas it has been widely reported that the deal includes SAM systems, anti-ship missiles and UAVs we still lack sufficient independent reports to confirm which exact types are involved and how many. Therefore the information about the Barak-8, the Gabriel-5, the Herons and the Searchers are all estimates, both regarding type and numbers involved. It is entirely possible that the deal includes other weapons too. It's important to point out that Azerbaijan has acquired a whole range of other weapons from several suppliers, not just the recent deal with Israel. I attach a register of major arms procured by Azerbaijan in the period 2007-2011. The register only shows transfers of major arms as defined by SIPRI. There are other significant projects ongoing, e.g. the modernization of T-72 tanks by Israeli companies. Also all indications are that Azerbaijan plans substantial further arms procurement in the coming years. Earlier this month, Azerbaijani police arrested 22 people, including one Iranian citizen, suspected of plotting attacks against US and Israeli targets across the country. Baku tied the plot to Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).Read the full story here.