US to Sell $5.4 Billion Worth of Missiles to Saudi Arabia

By teleSUR

30 July 15

 

Following the Iran nuclear deal, the U.S. has been eager to reaffirm its commitment to Saudi Arabia and other allies in the region.

he U.S. State Department approved the possible sale of US$5.4 billion worth of interceptors missiles to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, just a few weeks after the U.S. and five other world powers sealed a deal with Iran over Tehran's nuclear program.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) allies, as well as Israel, see Iran as a major security threat and see the deal as a sign of the U.S. abandoning them as allies. Therefore, the U.S. administration is using weapon sales and delivers as reassurance of Washington's commitment to the Arab allies.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said that the sale would benefit a “key U.S. ally.”

Patriot missile interceptors are built by Lockheed Martin Corp. and are used for defense against incoming aircraft and missiles. It is currently used by the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates.

"Lockheed Martin is supporting the U.S. government and the kingdom of Saudi Arabia as they discuss the potential sale of additional PAC-3 Missiles as part of the upgrade of the Royal Saudi Air Defense Force," Lockheed said in a statement.

In addition, the State Department approved Wednesday a possible sale to Saudi Arabia of US$500 million worth of ammunition.

Since the beginning of the negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, Saudi Arabia and other GCC allies have been upping their missile defenses. In April, Riyadh bought $2 billion worth of Patriots.

Also, last week, the Pentagon bought $1.5 billion worth of Patriots for Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Taiwan, South Korea — and Saudi Arabia again.

Following the Iran deal, the U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter conducted several official visits to Saudi Arabia, Israel and other allies in the region in a bid to reaffirm the U.S. unwavering commitment to their security.

He did that by continually stating that the Iran deal did not mean peace with Tehran and went as far as saying that military action against Iran was still on the table. It seems Carter was also there to seal billion of dollars worth of arm sales to the Middle East allies.