Amid warnings of US sanctions ... a political movement to revive the file of Iraq's purchase of weap

[size=52]Amid warnings of US sanctions ... a political movement to revive the file of Iraq's purchase of weapons from Russia[/size]

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[size=45]With the escalation of warnings of stopping the American F-16 aircraft and the confusion in their program, after the withdrawal of Martin Lockheed, which specializes in maintaining them, following the successive attacks of armed militias on the Balad air base, which includes the facilities of those aircraft, the conversation returned again in Iraqi political corridors, about the purchase of Russian aircraft and air defense systems.[/size]
[size=45]"In coordination with the US government and with employee safety as our top priority, Lockheed Martin is relocating the F-16 team, which is based in Iraq," said Joseph Lamarca Jr., a communications officer at Lockheed, a week ago, without revealing how many employees are. Being pulled.[/size]
[size=45]But an Iraqi official explained to the New York Times, "The company has 70 employees at Balad base, and 50 of them will be transferred to the United States and about 20 to Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region."[/size]
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[size=45]Iraqi security experts said that the aircraft program was completely stopped after the withdrawal of the maintenance company, which was denied by informed sources.[/size]
[size=45]A source at Balad Air Force Base stated, “The aircraft program was greatly affected by the withdrawal of the American maintenance company, but it did not stop as it is reported in the media, as there are still some specialized teams from the company, which have not withdrawn yet, in addition to the ability of the Iraqi cadres, to maintain "The aircraft and operating them to a specific level, with US supervision, which is often done remotely."[/size]
[size=45]The source added, "Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi directed the Air Defense Command, to alert several days ago, to follow up on the status of the American company, and to strengthen protection around the air base, to prevent attacks by armed factions."[/size]
[size=45]Yesterday, the spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces in Iraq, Yahya Rasoul, announced the killing of 8 ISIS militants during an air strike carried out by the F-16s.[/size]
[size=45]The American company withdrew, after the air base was exposed to a series of successive strikes during the past months, which hit a number of its workers, despite the Iraqi authorities ’assertion that there are no American combat forces in that base, and that the cadres working there are specialized in aircraft maintenance only.[/size]
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