Yousef al-Otaiba says a deal was agreed under Trump when the UAE established ties with Israel ‘still going on’ while under Biden administration scrutiny.
The UAE ambassador to Washington says he is confident the sale of F-35 jets to his country will come after an investigation by the new U.S. administration into some upcoming arms sales to American alliances.
On the last day of former President Donald Trump in office last month, the UAE signed agreements with the U.S. to up to 50 F-35 stealth fighters, 18 armed drones, and the purchase of other defense equipment under a $ 23bn contract.
“We have done everything with the book and will find out once the review is complete and proceeding,” Ambassador Yousef al-Otaiba told the Washington Institute’s virtual forum on Monday, noting describe the review as a “pro forma”.
Last month, a U.S. State Department official said President Joe Biden’s administration was pausing for a while to force some arms sales to U.S. alliances to review them.
“Everything is going on while they are reviewing at the same time. I am confident he will come to the right place, ”said al-Otaiba.
“If you are going to have less of a presence and less involvement in the Middle East you cannot at the same time take away tools from your partners that expect you to do more,” he said. .
‘Dangerous arms race’
The UAE was promised access to the F-35 aircraft made by Lockheed Martin in a side deal when it established ties with Israel last August in an agreement that broke the US.
Rights groups have denied the sale, saying it could boost regional fuel, especially in Libya and Yemen, where the UAE and Saudi Arabia have waged a devastating war against the country’s Houthi rebels.
Republican and Democratic lawyers in the U.S. also criticized arms movement, saying it would allow a “dangerous arms race”.
But in December, the Senate rejected efforts to block the deal, which opponents had said were running through without sufficient assurances that the equipment would not fall into the wrong hands, or fuel instability in the Middle East. .