The United States and Qatar have signed a deal for the purchase of F-15 fighter jets worth $12 billion even as the Donald Trump-led administration is trying to navigate through an ongoing diplomatic crisis in the Gulf countries.
Qatari Minister of Defence Khalid Al Attiyah and his US counterpart Jim Mattis completed the formalities for the purchase of the fighter jets in Washington on Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported citing Qatar News Agency (QNA). The deal comes just weeks after US President Donald Trump signed a US arms deal with Saudi Arabia of around $110 billion.
Attiyah said that the agreement underscores the "longstanding commitment of the state of Qatar in jointly working with our friends and allies in the United States in advancing our military cooperation for closer strategic collaboration in our fight to counter violent extremism and promote peace and stability in our region and beyond."
The agreement is "yet another step in advancing our strategic and cooperative defence relationship with the United States, and we look forward to continuing our joint military efforts with our partners here in the US," the Qatari defence minister added.
The sale of the fighter jets "will give Qatar a state-of-the-art capability and increase security cooperation and interoperability between the United States and Qatar," the Defence Department said in a statement.
US Navy warships arrive in Qatar for military exercise
Two warships of the US Navy arrived at the Hamad Port in Doha on Wednesday "to participate in a joint exercise with the Qatari Emiri Navy," the Qatari Ministry of Defence said in a statement released on QNA. Navy officers from Qatar received the American warships.
It is still not known whether the military exercise was planned before the diplomatic crisis began in the Gulf or whether this is a sign of support from the US, Al Jazeera reported. Qatar is home to the biggest US military base in the Middle East. Around 11,000 troops have been deployed at Al-Udeid Air Base, which also operates over 100 aircraft.
Diplomatic crisis in the Gulf
The deal and the military exercise between the US and Qatar comes after Trump criticised the Gulf nation for being "a funder of terrorism at a very high level" soon after Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt broke all diplomatic ties with the country earlier this month alleging that Qatar supported terror groups like Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group. Qatar has repeatedly rejected all allegations.
Soon after the Gulf countries announced that they were cutting all ties with Qatar, Trump in a series of tweets accused Qatar of supporting "terror" thereby overshadowing US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's attempts to remain neutral amid the crisis.
"During my recent trip to the Middle East, I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar - look!... So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off. They said they would take a hard line on funding extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!" Trump had tweeted soon after the announcement.
America's position on the crisis is still not clear with the Secretary of State asking Saudi Arabia to ease the blockade on Qatar. Tillerson said on Tuesday that the US State Department's efforts to resolve the crisis were "trending in a positive direction."
