Qatar makes formal request to US for F-35 jets: Report
Qatar has reportedly submitted a formal request to the United States to purchase Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter jets in a deal that could complicate US relations with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The request for the all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft was submitted by Doha in recent weeks, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing three unnamed people familiar with the deal.
The request came two months after a deal between Washington and Abu Dhabi in which the American side agreed to consider granting the UAE approval to buy F-35 warplanes in a side deal to a US-brokered agreement to normalize diplomatic relations with the Israeli regime.
Tel Aviv has already expressed its stern opposition to a deal with the UAE and will likely be just as resistant to one with Doha, fearing that the sale, which can take years to negotiate and deliver, could weaken its military advantage in the Middle East.
Furthermore, Israel is expected to oppose the deal between Qatar and the US on the F-35 jets since Doha has close relations with the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.
Back in September, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, met in Washington amid reports that the White House would designate the Persian peninsular country as a major non-NATO ally.
Saudi Arabia, which is the US’s closest partner among the Persian Gulf Arab states, is also likely to express its opposition to Washington supplying F-35 jets to Qatar.
In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut all diplomatic ties with Qatar and imposed a total blockade – sea, air and land – against the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom over unfounded allegations that Doha supported terrorism.
Qatar has strongly denied the allegations, stressing that it is paying a price for its independent foreign policy.
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