US plans to sell 50 stealth F-35 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates
On Tuesday, the Trump administration officially told the Congress that it plans to sell 50 stealth F-35 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates as part of a wider arms agreement with almost a quarter-billion dollars to prevent potential threats from Iran although worry in Israel.
Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, declared that he had authorized the sale in accordance with the administration’s Middle East peace efforts. This notice to lawmakers comes after the signing of the Abraham Accords between Israel, Bahrain and the UAE, where the Arab states have accepted to normalize ties with Israel.
Previously, Israeli officials expressed certain anxieties about an F-35 sale since it could affect the region’s military power balance. However, Pompeo stated that it would be fully consistent with the longstanding policy of maintaining Israel’s qualitative military advantage. The sale that reached $23.37 billion includes 50 F-35s, 18 advanced armed drone systems, and much air-to-air and air-to-ground ammunition.
Pompeo said: The UAE’s historic agreement to normalize relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to positively transform the region’s strategic landscape, adding: Our adversaries, especially those in Iran, know this and will stop at nothing to disrupt this shared success.
Following the agreeing to normalize ties with Israel in August, Emirati officials had reported that the purchase of the F-35s was among their main aims. At the time, Israeli officials dismissed that they had admitted the sale; however, they later abandoned public objections about it.
