The United States is planning billions of dollars worth of arms deals with countries in the Persian Gulf in order to counter Iran, according to news reports.
The administration is preparing to ask Congress to approve an arms sale package with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries which could be worth as much as $20 billion.
Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are also being considered as potential recipients of equipment and weaponry in these arms deals.
The deal would bolster the U.S.’s allies in the Middle East vis-à-vis Iran’s controversial nuclear program. Washington is concerned Iran is covertly manufacturing nuclear weapons.
Tehran insists its program is for peaceful purposes, but the program is a matter of concern both in the West and among Iran’s Muslim neighbors, who are reluctant to see Iran become a nuclear superpower.
The proposed package of military aid has caused concern in Jerusalem. Israel is worried about the U.S. bolstering the military capabilities of its Arab neighbors with whom it does not have full diplomatic relations.
Washington is planning to increase its aid to Israel and maintain aid to Egypt at the current level.
Senior officials were quoted as saying the administration is promising to give Israel $30.4 billion over the next decade, $9.1 billion more than Israel has received over the past 10 years.
Egypt is expected to receive $13 billion over the next decade.
The arms arrangement could draw criticism from critics of Saudi Arabia in Congress when they are informed of details of the deal this fall, on the grounds that the kingdom is not being supportive enough of the U.S. in Iraq.