Valued at $29.4 billion, this agreement includes production of 84 new aircraft and the modernization of 70 existing aircraft as well as munitions, spare parts, training, maintenance and logistics,” the White House’s principal deputy press secretary, Josh Earnest, said in an e-mailed statement. The jets “are among the most sophisticated and capable aircraft in the world,” he said.
The sale, signed on Christmas Eve in Riyadh, “will send a strong message to countries in the region that the United States is committed to security in the Gulf,” says Andrew Shapiro, assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, at a State Department briefing announcing the deal’s completion.
The announcement came after Iran threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping channel for Persian Gulf oil, if economic sanctions are increased. The sanctions are aimed at stopping the Islamic Republic from acquiring a nuclear bomb.
Shapiro cited Iran as a threat to the Gulf region, though he denied any link between the announcement’s timing and Iran’s recent threats.
“We did not gin up a package in response to current events in the region,” he says.
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