Washington: US President Joe Biden is said to be ready to sell weapons worth $23 billion to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A decision in this regard will be published soon by the Biden administration. It is claimed that this has cleared the blocks for the sale of super-advanced F-35 fighter jets to the UAE. Despite this, the Democrat party has expressed concerns about President Biden’s decision and has indicated a review of the agreement with UAE.
Last year, cooperation was established between UAE and Israel, with mediation from the former US President Donald Trump. Against the Abraham agreement background, signed between UAE and Israel, the Trump administration announced a supply of weapons worth $23.36 billion to UAE. These included 50 super-advanced F-35 stealth fighter jets, 18 armed MQ-9B drones and air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles.
Trump had said that it is essential to arms equip UAE to increase Iranian threat in the Middle East. Trump had signed the agreement in the last week of his stay in the White House. But Biden, within hours of taking over the United States’ reins, had imposed a temporary ban on the sale of weapons to Saudi and UAE. The Biden administration had adopted this stance, saying that this sale cannot be made, given the human rights issues.
But as per the information given by the US department of state, the Biden administration is now prepared to supply these weapons worth $23 billion to UAE. The Biden administration has informed the US Congress that the embargo against UAE is being withdrawn. The US department of state said that an announcement to that effect would be made soon. Simultaneously, the state department did not clarify if the embargo against Saudi also will be withdrawn.
Meanwhile, although the Biden administration has withdrawn the embargo, the US weapons will be available to UAE only after 2025. Therefore, the Biden administration has made a provision that the weapons are not supplied to UAE during its tenure. Some people from President Biden’s Democrat party have raised objections to the supply of weapons to UAE. Senators of the Democrat party have also demanded a review of the agreement with UAE.
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