The government led by current US President Trump agreed to sell F-35 fighters and other equipment to the United Arab Emirates in November this year.
Previously, some members of Congress opposed the plan and sponsored the draft resolution. The U.S. Senate voted on the 9th local time to reject the bill to prevent the government from selling weapons to the United Arab Emirates.
According to Reuters on the 9th, in the Senate vote on the same day, the “draft to stop the sale of F-35 to the United Arab Emirates” was rejected by 47 votes in favor and 49 against, and another “draft to stop the sale of armed drones to the United Arab Emirates” failed by 46 votes to 50 against.
According to the report, the vote erased the possibility that some senators would “suffocate” the arms sales plan before President-elect Biden took office.
The weapon sales plan, including drones and F-35 fighters, was worth more than $23 billion, after three senators, including Democrats and Republicans, launched a draft resolution saying that this scale should not be achieved during the transfer of power.
It is agreed that Congress should take measures to stop such acts.
Reuters reported that during Trump’s four years in office, congressmen have repeatedly tried to stop his plan to sell weapons.
After Trump notified Congress of the arms sales plan in November, some senators accused the Trump administration of deliberately “shortening” or “evading” Congressional review of the plan, while some members of Congress thought that the deal was “hurriedly completed” and there was no sufficient guarantee that the military equipment would not fall into the wrongdoes in the future.
Al Jazeera reported that before the Senate vote, the Trump administration issued an official notice that Trump would use the presidential veto if the Senate and the House of Representatives did not pass the draft to sell weapons.
The U.S. government said that after the UAE reached a peace agreement with Israel, the arms sales plan supported U.S. foreign policy and national security goals.
It was a recognition of the deepening of relations between the United States and Afghanistan, and could “stop Iran’s growing acts of aggression and threats”.
