Press Releases

Response to Biden’s Continuation of Trump’s UAE Arms Deal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 14, 2021

CONTACT: Cavan Kharrazian, [email protected]

WASHINGTON — The State Department has confirmed that President Biden will move ahead with Trump’s $23 billion arms sales, which includes F-35s and advanced weaponry, to the United Arab Emirates. Demand Progress joined 29 organizations last November in opposing Trump’s announced arms sale.

The following statement can be attributed to Cavan Kharrazian, Progressive Foreign Policy Campaigner at Demand Progress:

“It is deeply upsetting that President Biden is continuing Trump’s misguided arms sale to the UAE, especially at a time when Biden has declared that ending the war in Yemen and fostering a human rights centered foreign policy are priorities for his administration.

The United Arab Emirates’ appalling track record in Yemen has contributed significantly to the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, and the UAE’s past arm transfers of U.S. equipment to al-Qaeda-linked militias in Yemen and mercenaries in Libya should be a non-starter for any further U.S. weapons sales.

More weapons will not serve U.S. national security interests, but will rather enable the UAE’s malign behavior, fan the flames of instability, and narrow the window for peace in the region. President Biden must immediately reverse its decision to follow through on Trump’s arms sale.”