U.S. Moves Forward With F-35s Sale to UAE

Date: 30 October 2020 - 21:45

News ID: ۸۴۲۹۴

WASHINGTON (Dispatches) – The White House has agreed to sell top-of-the-line F-35 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates following its recognition of the Zionist regime, potentially shifting the regional power balance, a U.S. lawmaker has said.
President Donald Trump’s administration informally gave a required notification to Congress on the sale, which could "significantly change the military balance in the Persian Gulf and affect Israel’s military edge,” Representative Eliot Engel, a Democrat who leads the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said.
The White House notified Congress that it intends to sell 50 F-35 fighter jets made by Lockheed Martin to the UAE, sources told Reuters news agency.
The United States and the UAE aim to have a letter of agreement for the F-35 jets in time for UAE National Day celebrated on December 2.
The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations and House of Representatives Foreign Affairs committees, whose members have criticized the UAE’s role in civilian deaths in Yemen, have the right to review and block, weapons sales under an informal review process.
"The export of this aircraft requires very careful consideration and Congress must analyze all the ramifications. Rushing these sales is not in anyone’s interest,” Engel said.
The Zionist regime initially baulked at the prospective sale but last year dropped its opposition after what it described as U.S. guarantees that the regime’s military superiority would be preserved.