Iraq has called for enhanced air defense cooperation with Iran after Tehran successfully thwarted an American spying mission.
Last week Iran’s air defenses hit a high-altitude US Navy surveillance drone, which was violating its airspace. After several warnings and no response Iran pushed the button and blew the RQ-4 Spy Drone out of the sky.
Visiting Deputy Commander of the Iraqi Army Tariq Abbas Ibrahim Abdulhussein made the call during a meeting with Commander of the Iranian Army’s Air Defense Force, Brigadier General Alireza Sabahi-Fard.
The Iraqi official pointed to the Islamic Republic’s advanced capability in designing and manufacturing defensive systems. Baghdad was now requesting the cooperation to defend its sovereignty against hostile invaders cashing in on its oil reserves.
Such cooperation, he said, would encompass such areas as production, training, logistical support in various fields, including electronic warfare operations, radar operation, optical surveillance, command and control, radar calculations, and software.
The Iranian commander, for his part, conveyed Tehran’s “complete readiness to meet Iraq’s defensive needs in all areas of expertise concerning manufacturing and supporting air defense systems.”
Sabahi-Fard said Iran had achieved the capability for manufacturing various pieces of air defense equipment, including tactical and deployable radars, missile and artillery systems, signal intelligence gathering, electronic warfare equipment, and unmanned aerial vehicles.
The two countries, he stated, were part of the unified Muslim Ummah, which could not be segregated from one another based on political and geographical demarcations.
News Punch / ABC Flash Point News 2019.
