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Iraq steps up search for advanced air defense system

Regional conflicts and international tensions, along with money, are roadblocks to Iraq's pressing interest in upgrading its missile defense system.
A member of the Iraqi army sits on a vehicle mounted with a man-portable air-defence system (MANPAD) during a yearly military show on February 1, 2015 in the capital Baghdad. Violence in Iraq killed 1,375 people in January, month eight of the battle against jihadists who swept through large areas of the country last summer, the United Nations said. AFP PHOTO / SABAH ARAR        (Photo credit should read SABAH ARAR/AFP/Getty Images)
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Iraq recognizes its urgent need to develop a defense system to prevent violations of its airspace and targeting of its Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) sites. Whether the solution will be Russia's S-400 missile defense system has been a matter of contention for many months.

Hisham al-Hashimi, a security expert at the Nahrain Center for Strategic Studies, told Al-Monitor that increased talks about beefing up security are probably an attempt to allay the anger of the Shiite parties supporting the PMU, after its sites were attacked on several occasions recently. On Sept. 14, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense said the PMU had transferred its weapons to the ministry’s warehouses for protection.

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