A 1955 arms deal between Czechoslovakia and Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser marked the beginning of Soviet penetration of the Middle East.
Notes on verification
Confirmed by multiple independent, high-quality sources including academic and think-tank analyses; consistent with established historical consensus on Cold War Middle East dynamics.
Sources
- (W)Archives: CIA and the “Arab Mind” - War on the Rocks (warontherocks.com)
- https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2024/09/egypt-russia-great-power (carnegieendowment.org)
- https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1970/march/arms-love-allah (usni.org)