The United States has approved more than $8.6 billion in arms sales to key Middle East allies, the State Department announced Friday, as Washington moves to bolster the defences of countries targeted by Iranian strikes since the conflict erupted on 28 February.
Israel, Qatar and the UAE will each acquire the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) © Mena Today
The United States has approved more than $8.6 billion in arms sales to key Middle East allies, the State Department announced Friday, as Washington moves to bolster the defences of countries targeted by Iranian strikes since the conflict erupted on 28 February.
The headline deal is a $4 billion-plus Patriot missile defence system for Qatar, approved as an emergency sale to address "current and future threats" facing the Gulf state.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio authorised all the sales as serving US "foreign policy and national security objectives," with Congressional approval now being sought.
The full breakdown is striking in both scale and scope. Kuwait will receive integrated command systems worth $2.5 billion.
Israel, Qatar and the UAE will each acquire the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS), a high-precision guided weapons platform, with Israel and Qatar each receiving packages worth close to $1 billion, and the UAE $147 million.
The timing is deliberate. Every country on the list has been on the receiving end of Iranian missile and drone strikes since the conflict began. Washington's message is unambiguous: its regional partners will be armed, equipped and supported, ceasefire or no ceasefire.
With Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz continuing and the broader regional conflict far from resolved, the arms packages signal that Washington is preparing its allies not just for the current standoff, but for whatever comes next.
Syrian Druze leader Hikmat al-Hijri has declared that the Druze community, present across several Middle Eastern countries, is "an integral part of Israel," citing a shared "faith and ideology" with the Israeli state, according to remarks reported Tuesday by the Syrian digital outlet Syria Now.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Iran had tried to kill one of his sons, but gave no details about when the alleged plot took place, which son was targeted or how close it came to being carried out.
A documentary examining Israel's killing of civilians in Gaza was added to the Venice Film Festival lineup on Monday, marking the second consecutive year a highly charged work about the conflict has competed for the festival's top prize, the Golden Lion.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.
