The Gulf principality close to Turkey is interested in upgrading its military power in light of the regional arms race • Doha has previously refused to take part in the Saudi alliance against Iran
Air Force F-35 // Photo: AFP
Qatar last week submitted a formal request to the United States government to purchase the state-of-the-art F-35 fighter jet, Reuters reported tonight (Wednesday).
Despite being a Sunni princess in the Persian Gulf, Qatar has in the past chosen not to join the Saudi axis against Iran and has even suffered severe sanctions from Riyadh and the UAE that included halting flights to the country and closing its land borders completely.
Qatar has even taken steps to bring Tehran closer and serves as an important trading post for it.
Qatari President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who visited the country today with the aim of obtaining Qatari funding assistance for his country's economic crisis, will be briefed by all Qatari officials.
Turkey has previously been a partner in the F-35 development project but its handling of a number of issues in which it has clashed with the government in Washington, such as the acquisition of the Russian S-400 anti-aircraft system, has led Washington to cancel the sale of the aircraft to Ankara.
Despite Donald Trump's statements that he is interested in increasing sales of US-made weapons systems to foreign countries, it is hard to believe that his government will approve the sale of the most advanced live aircraft to Doha, due to the desire to maintain Israeli air supremacy in space and more importantly, An American reaches Iran.