World news – USA – Yus approves $ 23 Pompeo says 37 billion advanced weapons have been sold to the UAE

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration notified Congress on Tuesday that it had approved the UC agreement Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the sale of advanced weapons systems amounted to more than $ 23 billion, including F-35 fighter jets and aircraft. Armed drones, of the United Arab Emirates

The official notification follows the letter U-o – an agreement brokered by the UAE in September, in which the UAE agreed to normalize relations with Israel, becoming the first Arab country out of three Arab countries to take such a step in recent months

Pompeo said in a statement: « This is an acknowledgment of the deepening of our relationship and the need for the UAE for advanced defense capabilities to deter and defend itself against the growing threats from Iran. »

$ 23 The State Department said the 37 billion package includes up to 50 F-35 Lighting II aircraft, up to 18 MQ-9B unmanned aircraft systems and an array of air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions

U letter The Senate Foreign Relations and House Committees – whose members have criticized the UAE’s role in killing civilians in the Yemeni civil war – review major arms sales before the State Department sends its formal notification to the legislature

Any deal concluded by the United States to sell weapons in the Middle East must fulfill decades of agreement with Israel that it should not weaken Israel’s « qualitative military edge » over its neighbors

The announcement came just days after Democratic challenger Joe Biden won enough states to take over from Trump, the Republican who made pro-Israel politics part of his campaign for re-election.

Israel initially refrained from the potential sale of F-35 warplanes, worth $ 10 billion, but dropped its opposition after what it described as a US guarantee of preserving Israel’s regional military superiority

The UAE, one of Washington’s closest allies in the Middle East, has long wanted stealth aircraft and promised an opportunity to buy them in a side bargain when it agreed to normalize relations with Israel, as part of a strategic regional realignment against Iran.

In the past, F-35s were denied entry to Arab countries while Israel has about 24 planes and Israel is set to buy 50 fighters

“The proposed sale will make the United Arab Emirates more capable and interoperable with US partners in a manner that is fully consistent with America’s long-standing commitment to ensuring qualitative military superiority for Israel,” Pompeo said

$ 2 Selling 97 billion armed drones would be the first such export since the Trump administration reinterpreted the 34-nation Cold War era arms deal to allow US defense contractors to sell more drones to allies

(Matt Spitalnik and Pete Schroeder report; additional report by Mike Stone; edited by David Gregorio and Paul Simão)

United Arab Emirates, Mike Pompeo, Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, Donald Trump, US State Department, Israel