The United States is preparing a military sale to Egypt valued at $691 million, the State Department announced in a statement. According to Washington, Cairo requested the purchase of more than 5,000 TOW anti-tank missiles, missile support equipment, spare parts, tools, test equipment, as well as logistical technical support.
As the communiqué notes, this arms package will strengthen US foreign policy and national security by "helping to enhance the security of an important non-NATO ally that remains an important strategic partner in the Middle East". Washington and Cairo have important political, economic and commercial ties. Egypt is the largest US export market in Africa. US companies are active in Egypt in a variety of areas, including energy, technology, telecommunications, construction and hospitality.
The two countries have also developed significant cooperation in security, intelligence and defence. "If you want me to define the US-Egypt relationship, I would say it is a strategic relationship," Motaz Zahran, Egypt's ambassador to Washington, told Al-Monitor.
For Washington, Egypt is a key ally in the region in the fight against Daesh, an issue that has always been central to different US administrations. With the aim of combating the terrorist group, former president Barack Obama restored military aid to Cairo in 2015, assistance that he suspended two years earlier due to the overthrow of Mohamed Morsi, linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Under Donald Trump, that aid was maintained and relations were strengthened. The former US president called his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi "a great president", saying he was "doing a great job" and had managed to "establish authority and security". "He has brought order. Before he was here, there was very little order. There was chaos," Trump said during a meeting with Al-Sisi in 2019, according to Al-Monitor.
However, these good relations were tarnished shortly before Trump left office due to the Al-Sisi government's purchase of Russian fighter jets. The Republican leader accused Cairo of purchasing Russian weapons with US aid money. As a result, before leaving the White House, he cut military aid to Cairo.
The current president, Joe Biden, following in his predecessor's footsteps, also chose to cut $130 million in military aid to Egypt, although the reasons were different. The US administration cited human rights concerns in the country, though this decision may also be a response to heavy pressure from Democratic lawmakers, as in January Biden announced a $2.2 billion sale of C-130 Super Hercules aircraft and several Democrats and one Republican tried to block the shipment in the Senate.
The stance of some US presidents, particularly Democrats such as Obama and Biden, has led Egypt to diversify its arms imports. Despite the US being a major supplier, Cairo has increased arms trade with other countries such as Russia, France, Germany and Italy, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
However, recent events in Sinai have led to a change in Biden's position. In early May, the Egyptian peninsula suffered a series of attacks claimed by Daesh that killed dozens of Egyptian military personnel. One of them, which killed 11 soldiers, has been considered one of the deadliest attacks in recent years.
Sinai is one of the most terrorist-active regions in the region. Since the overthrow of Morsi in 2013, jihadist attacks have increased in the peninsula, posing a major security challenge to the Egyptian government. Al-Sisi has therefore launched several anti-terrorist operations in the area, most notably a mission carried out in February 2018 against extremist cells that had pledged allegiance to Daesh. According to official figures, more than 1,000 jihadists have been killed. Compared to the latest attacks in May, the Egyptian army reportedly eliminated 23 jihadists in the Sinai.
The increase in terrorist activity in the peninsula has led al-Sisi to call for a greater military partnership with the United States, an important ally in this area. Accordingly, on 10 May, days after the attacks, the Egyptian president expressed his hopes for closer counterterrorism ties with Washington during a meeting with US Army General Michael Kurilla, according to Reuters.
The Biden administration has responded positively to the million-dollar arms shipment, which "will enhance Egypt's ability to improve the defence of its territory," the US statement said. "The missiles will be used to combat terrorism, secure borders against armoured threats and fortified sites," it adds.
Americas Coordinator: José Antonio Sierra.
