Gulf States to invest billions in military procurement to stave off Iran

Gulf States to invest billions in military procurement to stave off Iran

F-35 Lightning II

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F-35 Lightning II
F-35 Lightning II

It seems the US is the primary beneficiary of the heavy concerns among countries in the Persian Gulf that Iran may resort to a tough aggressive stance against them.

Over the weekend, it became apparent that the Gulf States are concerned of the situation that may develop following the signing of the nuclear agreement with Iran, as the deal is rumored to be worthless.

The Gulf States forward the US a list of weapons systems they would require for defense against any future Iranian aggression.

According to various publications in the US, it seems that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait are all applying heavy pressure on the US to allow them to procure highly advanced weapons systems.

The Gulf States demand they be cleared to procure, inter alia, missile defense batteries for air defense, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), command and control systems – as well as the US’s most advanced combat aircraft, such as the F-35.

Various US administration officials have voiced their concern that providing certain Gulf States with advanced weapons systems, could undermine Israel’s military supremacy in the Middle East. The administration is particularly troubled by Saudi Arabia’s demand the US sign off on its acquisition of the F-35 stealth combat jet.

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It should be noted that Israel has already signed a deal to acquire F-35 combat jet, the first of which are to be supplied to the Israeli Air Force (IAF) within two years.

In the meantime, Saudi Arabia is procuring long range ballistic missiles from China. This, in order to replace its aging Chinese ballistic missiles from the 1980’s.

An Israeli source told i-HLS that the Persian Gulf region might be heading for an unlimited, or even “uncontrolled arms race”, which European arms exporters may also take advantage of. For them, this would mean an opportunity to close huge deals.

Officially, Israel is not referring to the demands made by the Gulf States. Nevertheless, Jerusalem is concern by recent developments in the region, following these countries’ fears of a nuclear Iran hell bent on expanding at their expense.

It should also be noted that in addition to China and the US, Russia is also busy “meddling” in the region. Not only did the Russians export advanced weapons systems to Egypt, they have also recently cleared additional systems for export to Iran. Sources in the Kremlin are often telling the Western media that additional arms deals may be in the offing, involving additional countries in the region.

Recently, France and Egypt concluded a huge arms deal involving a variety of advanced weapons systems, from missiles through fighter jets to AEGIS ships.

Arie Egozi i-HLS Editor-in-Chief
Arie Egozi
i-HLS Editor-in-Chief