Trump administration approves $8.6 billion arms sales to Middle East amid Iran war deadlock | World News

2 min readMay 3, 2026 11:30 AM IST

The Trump administration has greenlit over $8.6 billion in emergency arms sales to its Middle Eastern partners as talks to end the US-Israel war with Iran remain stalled.

In a series of statements on Friday night (May 1), the State Department made the announcement of sales.

The weapons package facilitates the transfer of rocket systems to Israel, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), alongside critical air-defence equipment to Qatar and Kuwait.

The move is aimed at fortifying the Persian Gulf nations after they were repeatedly targeted by Iranian drones and ballistic missiles during the US-Israeli war with Iran.

As a part of the agreement, Qatar would pay over $4 billion for American-made Patriot missile interceptors, the global stockpiles of which were severely depleted by the high-intensity demands of the war.

The UAE, Israel and Qatar would receive an Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS), which fires laser-guided rockets, costing $992.4 million. Kuwait also bought an advanced aerial defence system for nearly $2.5 billion.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio approved emergency arms sales under a special provision allowing immediate approval, said the State Department, bypassing standard congressional review, drawing criticism from Democratic lawmakers.

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Trump issues warning to Iran over ‘possibility’ of military strikes

US President Donald Trump said there remains a possibility of renewed strikes on Iran if it “misbehaves”, adding that he is waiting to see the exact wording of a proposed deal.

Speaking to reporters in Florida, Trump said he had been briefed on the “concept of the deal” from Iran but had not yet seen the full text. “They told me about the concept of the deal. They’re going to give me the exact wording now,” he said.

He warned that military action could resume depending on Iran’s actions. “If they misbehave, if they do something bad… We’ll see. But it’s a possibility that could happen,” he said, as quoted by Reuters.

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