Originally published under the title “Understanding the Saudi, UAE Arms Deals and Iran.”
Just weeks after taking office in 2017, President Trump signed an agreement to sell Saudi Arabia $110 billion worth of weapons. |
In May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia inked a $110 billion arms deal. Two years later, news that Riyadh was seeking to extend its missile capabilities has resurrected claims that the Kingdom is involved in an “arms race” with other countries in the region. However, there has always been an arms race in the Middle East between rival powers and it’s not clear that the current expansion is different than past build-ups of military equipment. What might make it different is if Iran actually tried to build a nuclear weapon.
CNN reported on June 5 that the US government “has obtained intelligence that Saudi Arabia has significantly escalated its ballistic missile program with the help of China.” This was despite US efforts to prevent missile proliferation in the Middle East, the article noted. “Discovery of the Saudi efforts has heightened concerns among members of Congress over a potential arms race in the Middle East.” A subsequent article noted that “exactly where the White House’s decision to bend itself out of shape to suit the Saudi’s current thirst for more and better weapons, in a region already exhausted by conflict, will lead in the years ahead is unclear.” ...
Seth Frantzman is The Jerusalem Post’s op-ed editor, a Writing Fellow at the Middle East Forum, and a founder of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis.
