Alwaght- The US has signed a $12-billion deal to sell F-15 fighter jets to Qatar, a country President Donald Trump said supports terrorists.
Qatar’s Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday the country had signed a deal to buy F-15 fighter jets from Washington for $12 billion.
According to Qatar News Agency (QNA), the deal was inked by Qatari Defense Khalid al-Attiyah and his US counterpart, James Mattis, in Washington.
The Pentagon also announced in a statement that the sale would give Qatar “a state of the art capability and increase security cooperation and interoperability” between Doha and Washington.
Two combat US Navy ships have reportedly sailed into Doha for joint drills with the Qatari navy. The crews of the US warships were greeted by their Qatari counterparts after they disembarked in Doha upon their arrival on Wednesday, QNA reported
The two major developments come after several critical remarks by Trump, in which he accused Qatar of channeling support to extremists, stating that the Persian Gulf Kingdom has “historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level.”
The US ruler took up a harsh tone against Doha after several West Asian countries, including the US major ally in the region, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Egypt severed diplomatic relations with Qatar earlier this month, accusing it of supporting terrorism and being close to neighboring Iran.
Praising the move on Twitter, Trump appeared to take credit for the political and economic blockade of Qatar, led by the oil-rich Persian Gulf monarchies, implying that it was a direct consequence of his first foreign trip across West Asia region, which he boasted “was already paying off.”
A few days ago, Trump called on Qatar to stop funding terrorism, claiming credit for and endorsing the decision of Persian Gulf nations to ostracize their neighbor.
"We had a decision to make," Trump said, describing conversations with Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf countries. "Do we take the easy road or do we finally take a hard but necessary action? We have to stop the funding of terrorism."
Qatar is home to the largest American airbase in the West Asia region which houses around 10,000 troops. In apparent defiance to Trump, The Pentagon has voiced support for Qatar, a country that serves as a command and logistical hub for US military interventionist policies in the region.
With mixed signals coming from Washington, the UAE Ambassador to the US Yousef al-Otaiba called on the US to remove its base from Qatar, calling it an obstacle to the more decisive action.
“The airbase is a very nice insurance policy against any additional pressure,” al-Otaiba said on Tuesday, proposing his country as an alternative location for the base.
