US Approves Military Sales of Over $8.6bn to Middle East Allies

Military Sales

The US State Department has approved military sales totaling over $8.6 billion to Middle Eastern allies Israel, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

Friday's announcements by the State Department came as the US and Israel's war on Iran marked nine weeks since its start and more than three weeks since a fragile ceasefire mediated by Pakistan came into effect.

The announcements by the State Department included approving military sales to Qatar of Patriot air and missile defence replenishment services costing $4.01 billion and of Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems (APKWS) costing $992.4 million.

They also included approval of the sale to Kuwait of an integrated battle command system costing $2.5 billion and to Israel of Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems costing $992.4 million.

The State Department approved a sale to the UAE of APKWS for $147.6 million.

The principal contractor in the APKWS sales to Qatar, Israel and the UAE was BAE Systems, the State Department said.

RTX and Lockheed Martin were the principal contractors in the integrated battle command system sale to Kuwait and in the Patriot air and missile defense replenishment sale to Qatar, the State Department added.

Northrop Grumman was also a principal contractor in the Kuwaiti sale.

War on hold

US and Israel began attacking Iran on February 28, prompting retaliation from Tehran against US allies in the Gulf and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The war has been on hold since April 8, with only one failed round of direct talks since.

US President Donald Trump, under pressure at home to seek congressional authorisation for the war, wrote to lawmakers on Friday afternoon declaring hostilities "terminated" — despite no change in the US military posture.

Iran has maintained its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, choking off major flows of oil, gas and fertiliser, while the United States has imposed a counter-blockade on Iranian ports.

Trump also said on Friday that he was "not satisfied" with a new Iranian negotiating proposal.

Iran delivered the proposal text to mediator Pakistan on Thursday evening, the IRNA news agency reported, without detailing its contents.