UAE ambassador optimistic about US sale of F-35 jets
The US sale of 50 F-35 jets, 18 armed drones and other defence equipment, including Raytheon's Paveway IV smart bomb, worth around $23 billion to the United Arab Emirates, was finalised on the last day of former President Donald Trump's term in office. After his departure from the White House, the situation has, unsurprisingly, changed. For the moment, however, the Arab embassy is optimistic and confident that the agreement will be honoured: "We did everything by the book and they will find out once the review is completed and they will proceed". With such forcefulness, Yousef Al Otaiba assured that the agreement between the parties would come to fruition.
The country headed by Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahayan was promised the opportunity to acquire several examples of the F-35 model in a side deal when it established ties with Israel in August under a pact brokered by the Trump administration. Indeed, the US Senate itself reaffirmed the sale of this weaponry, overturning attempts by the opposition to block it on the grounds that the sale was being rushed through without guarantees that the equipment would fuel instability in the Middle East.
On the other hand, only a month ago the US State Department announced that Biden's team had decided to temporarily halt arms sales to certain allies, represented by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia: "It is typical at the beginning of an administration to review pending sales, to make sure that what is being considered is something that advances our strategic objectives and our foreign policy," said the new Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. But he is not alone. Italy, in the chaos that has engulfed the country following the withdrawal of former prime minister Matteo Renzi's party, has blocked the sale to these two countries of an allocation of 20,000 missiles valued at 400 million euros. A decision that foreign minister Luigi Di Maio explained: "An act that we consider due, a clear message of peace coming from our country. For us, respect for human rights is an unwavering commitment". This decision has been applauded by the Italian Network for Peace and Disarmament, which has described the measure as "historic" and estimates that 12,700 devices have been cancelled as a result of the measure.
Already in 2019, these arms sales agreements were criticised because of the use Saudi Arabia was making of them in the Yemen war. However, the "state of emergency" prevented the US Congress from being able to hinder the process. It was both the Democrats and a certain sector of the Republicans who expressed their disagreement with these pacts, which in turn were also pointed out by numerous human rights organisations. The epicentre of the world's biggest humanitarian crisis, located in Yemen, will continue to be a headache for Joe Biden, who intends to maintain and increase humanitarian aid throughout Yemen. This seems at odds with the continued supply of arms to Saudi Arabia, which is trying to eradicate the Iranian-backed Shia Houthis. Even the former Secretary of State during Donald Trump's presidency, Mike Pompeo, designated the Houthi group as a terrorist organisation days before leaving office, which led to a package of sanctions that would make humanitarian aid to Yemen impossible, and which Biden intends to unblock.
