Senior Iraqi officials, mostly from the Oil Ministry, met the plane. The flight was the latest challenge to the sanctions imposed after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. Members of the United Nations Security Council are divided over the sanctions, with some doubting their effectiveness. Russia and France, both permanent members of the Council, maintain that authorization is not required for aid flights. On Friday, France also rejected American and British protests and sent a plane from Paris to Baghdad.
Iraqi officials view the flights as a sign that the trade sanctions are eroding.
Hashemi, a senior official welcoming the Russians, declared that his government would turn down future requests to fly to Baghdad if those organizing the flight obtained United Nations permission. Mr. Hashemi also said the flights indicated that nations are distancing themselves from American and British interpretations of the sanctions. United Nations resolutions require the sanctions to remain in place until Iraq complies with demands to dismantle its weapons of mass destruction. For the past decade, travelers to Iraq generally have flown to Amman, Jordan, and then driven to Baghdad. The Russian flight today arrived about 45 minutes late.