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Quoted Reuters Three people familiar with the matter said that Qatar has made a formal request to the United States to purchase F-35 stealth fighters, in a deal that could affect America’s relations with Saudi Arabia and Israel, if implemented.

The three people said that the Gulf state had submitted its request to buy US Lockheed Martin planes in recent weeks.

“As a general policy, the United States does not confirm or comment on proposed defense sales or transfers until Congress is formally notified of them,” a State Department spokesman said.

The Qatari embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

Keen to confront Iran in the region, the United States is helping to arm allies, including Qatar, which hosts the largest US military facility in the Middle East, and includes 8,000 US service personnel and civilian employees of the Ministry of Defense, according to Reuters.

‘A losing deal’

The request comes after the August agreement between the United States and the UAE, in which Washington agreed to consider granting the Gulf state the purchase of F-35s in a side deal to the peace agreement (Ibrahim) brokered by the United States that allowed for the normalization of diplomatic relations with Israel.

Israel has indicated strong opposition to a sale with the UAE and will likely resist the Qatar deal, lest it undermine its military advantage in the Middle East.

In Washington, a fourth person familiar with the matter said that concern about Qatar’s links to Hamas has surfaced repeatedly over arms sales to the Gulf state. But in the case of an advanced warplane such as the F-35, the deal may be “lost,” according to the agency.

“It has nothing to do with the Abraham agreement.”

One of the sources said that the request submitted by Qatar to purchase the aircraft, which is the first official step in the legal process of selling foreign military weapons, “was not directly related to an invitation to adopt the Ibrahim Agreement.” Qatar has shown no indication that it will normalize relations with Israel.

The United States and Qatar have close ties.

In September, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Qatar’s Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, met in Washington, where the United States hopes to move forward with naming Qatar as a major non-NATO ally.

Israeli and Saudi opposition expected

Although both allies of the United States, both potential Qatari and Emirati F-35 deals must fulfill a decades-old agreement with Israel, stating that any American weapons sold to the region must not weaken Israel’s “qualitative military edge”, ensuring that American weapons Provided to Israel is “superior in capacity” to that sold to its neighbors.

Saudi Arabia, the strongest and closest partner among the Arab Gulf states, is also likely to oppose the United States supplying Qatar with the F-35s. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt remain locked in a three-year standoff with Qatar.

Usually, the official order letter to purchase US weapons contains specifications that will be used to provide the customer with pricing data, but currently the cost of the F-35A, a fifth-generation fighter jet, is about $ 80 million.

Any sale of the F-35 could take years to negotiate and deliver, giving the new US presidential administration ample time to consider any deals, knowing that their approval also needs congressional approval.

It is noteworthy that Poland is the latest country to make a deal with the United States to buy 32 F-35s, but it will not receive the first batch until 2024.