Alghadeer TV Alghadeer TV
While many around the world were watching the key World Cup 2022 match in Doha between Iran and the United States, the administration of President Joe Biden approved a $1-billion arms sale to the tournament’s host country Qatar.
The massive potential arms sale to Qatar was announced during halftime of the match on Tuesday night.
The US State Department said in a statement it had signed off on Qatar’s purchase of 10 defensive drone systems, 200 interceptors and related equipment just as the second half of the US-Iran game began. The Department said the sale would “support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the US by helping to improve the security of a friendly country that continues to be an important force for political stability and economic progress in West Asia.”
It will “improve Qatar’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing electronic and kinetic defeat capabilities against Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Qatar will have no difficulty absorbing these articles and/or services into its armed forces,” the Department said.
Additionally, five US government officials and 15 contractor representatives will be assigned to Qatar for five years to support the implementation of the purchased military equipment.
The United States recently approved massive arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) worth more than $5 billion.
Also in February, the US State Department approved Washington’s latest raft of proposed weapons sales to West Asia, with Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the UAE approved for deals.
Since the beginning of the Saudi-led war in 2015, the use of US weapons by the Saudi-led coalition in airstrikes on civilian targets in Yemen has been well documented.
