The United States has cleared a $24.3 billion deal to sell 48 F-35 stealth fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, even as tensions flared in the Strait of Hormuz after Iran said its Revolutionary Guards struck and detained an oil tanker.
The State Department said the proposed sale would “improve Saudi Arabia’s capability to deter current and future threats” by strengthening homeland defense and improving interoperability with US forces. It would also “augment Saudi Arabia’s operational aircraft” and boost its air-to-air and air-to-ground self-defense capacity, the department added.
Congress has been notified and must approve the transfer, though no delivery timetable was given. Officials stressed the sale “will not alter the military balance in the region,” echoing longstanding US policy that Israel must retain a qualitative military edge over potential regional rivals. For Riyadh, the purchase marks another major arms acquisition since the outbreak of the Iran war, according to AFP.
Hours later, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted and detained a Togolese-flagged oil tanker, the Trend, after a fire broke out on board during an alleged “illegal passage” through the Strait of Hormuz, state news agency IRNA reported via AFP. Britain’s UK Maritime Trade Operations confirmed a “security incident” in the strait, about 16 nautical miles northeast of Khasab, Oman, but did not name the vessel or say whether it matched Iran’s description.
The incident underscores how quickly the waterway, one of the world’s most vital oil chokepoints can become a flashpoint, even as Washington moves to deepen its security partnership with Gulf allies.
