Biden administration suspends F-35 sale to UAE

The new US administration has suspended the sale of F-35 jets to the United Arab Emirates, according to Bloomberg's defense reporter. "US Temporarily Pausing Some Foreign Arms Sales, Official Says: Sale of Lockheed Martin F-35 jets to UAE as well as munitions to Saudi Arabia among the more significant deals from the Trump administration under review, according to a State Department official," Anthony Capaccio wrote on his Twitter on Wednesday. Under a deal with the administration of former US President Donald Trump, the UAE was supposed to receive 50 stealth F 35 warplanes and 18 advanced Reaper drones. The Emiratis have long expressed interest in getting the stealth jets. The UAE was promised a chance to purchase them when it agreed to normalize relations with Israel last August, angering the Palestinians.

UAE to get F35 jets and Predator drones after normalizing ties with Israel Former US president Donald Trump took full advantage of his last hours in office this week to push through a flurry of controversial decisions. One of Trump’s final acts was signing a deal to sell state-of-the-art warplanes and drones to the United Arab Emirates. The deal, which was mainly pushed by Trump's son in law, Jared Kushner, is considered another part of Trump's notorious dealings with the Persian Gulf Arab allies, which have long records of human rights violations. The Emiratis have been deeply involved in the devastating Saudi led war on Yemen, which has triggered outcry by human rights advocates. Trump, however, was dismissive of such warnings as the United States itself has been deeply involved in the Yemen war ever since it began in 2015.