"US Temporarily Pausing Some Foreign Arms Sales, Official Says: Sale of Lockheed Martin F-35 jets to UAE as well as munitions to Saudi Arabia among the more significant deals from the Trump administration under review, according to a State Department official," Bloomberg's defense reporter Anthony Capaccio wrote on his Twitter on Wednesday.
Under a deal with the administration of former US president Donald Trump, the UAE was supposed to receive 50 stealth F 35 warplanes and 18 advanced Reaper drones. The Emiratis have long expressed interest in getting the stealth jets. The UAE was promised a chance to purchase them when it agreed to normalize relations with Israel last August, angering the Palestinians.
The deal, which was mainly pushed by Trump's son in law, Jared Kushner, is considered another part of Trump's notorious dealings with the Persian Gulf Arab allies, which have long records of human rights violations.
The Emiratis have been deeply involved in the devastating Saudi led war on Yemen, which has triggered outcry by human rights advocates.
Trump, however, was dismissive of such warnings as the United States itself has been deeply involved in the Yemen war ever since it began in 2015.