United States working on $23.23 billion arms deal with UAE

According to the International News Agency, an adviser to the Biden administration said that the weapons sold to the United Arab Emirates include F-35 fighter jets, armed drones and other artilleries.

A State Department spokesman said the Biden administration would work with the United Arab Emirates on the proposed arms sale, but was reviewing details and consulting with UAE officials on the use of the weapons.

The Democratic president's administration had paused the deals agreed to by former Republican President Donald Trump to review them. The sales to the Gulf nation were finalized right before Trump left office.

The Trump administration told Congress in November that it had approved the supply of US weapons to the United Arab Emirates as part of the "Abraham Accord" by the Gulf state to restore relations with Israel.

In the last months of the Trump administration, Israel reached deals with the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco as part of the accords.

The $23.37 billion package contained products from General Atomics, Lockheed Martin Corp and Raytheon Technologies Corp, including 50 F-35 Lightning II aircraft, up to 18 MQ-9B Unmanned Aerial Systems and a package of air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions.