Ch. 32: Aeroflot Routes to Baghdad: Soviet-Iraqi Relations during the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1981)
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Description
This chapter appears in the book, Russian-Arab Worlds: A Documentary History. Edited by Eileen Kane, Masha Kirasova, and Margaret Litvin.
Chapter Summary: This chapter presents a 1982 internal report of the Soviet national airline, Aeroflot. The report shows how officials at the world’s largest airline responded to reduced demand after the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988), seeking to maintain the Moscow-Baghdad route that had opened in 1964. Aeroflot sought to serve the interests of the “Soviet colony” in Iraq, enhance Soviet prestige, earn hard currency, and salvage its alliances with Muslim-majority countries after invading Afghanistan in 1979. The Iraqi government, meanwhile, shaped its relationship with the Soviets by limiting Aeroflot’s operations and advantaging its own carrier, Iraqi Airways, in flying passengers and cargo on the airlines’ shared route.
ISBN
9780197605769
Publication Date
2023
Publisher
Oxford University Press
City
Oxford
Keywords
Aeroflot, Commercial aviation, Arab-Soviet relations, Iran-Iraq War
Disciplines
Diplomatic History | European History | Islamic World and Near East History | Political History
Recommended Citation
Harris, Steven E., "Ch. 32: Aeroflot Routes to Baghdad: Soviet-Iraqi Relations during the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1981)" (2023). Books and Chapters. 15.
https://scholar.umw.edu/hist_amst_books/15