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Russian and Qatari military officials sign a
military cooperation agreement in Doha on October 25, 2017.
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Thu Oct 26, 2017 08:12AM
Russia and Qatar have signed an intergovernmental
agreement on military and technical cooperation, as Persian Gulf Arab states
are turning to Moscow as a new arms supplier amid escalation of regional
tensions.
The agreement was signed between the representatives of
Russia’s state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport and the Qatari Defense
Ministry in Doha on Wednesday, at the presence of Russian Defense Minister
General Sergey Shoigu and his Qatari counterpart, Khalid bin Mohammad Al
Attiyah, TASS reported.
According to Russia’s Sputnik news agency, the package
agreement includes a $500-million deal for S-400 anti-aircraft system as well
as the sale of Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft system, light armored vehicles, tank
defense systems and mortar.
Once an exclusive market for the US and West European
arms exports, Persian Gulf Arab states have recently turned their eyes to
Russia for military hardware.
The arms rivalry in the Persian Gulf takes place as Saudi
Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt have waged a diplomatic and economic war on
Qatar since June, accusing Doha of supporting “terrorism.” Qatar rejects the
allegation and blames the Saudi-led countries for the crisis, saying they
harbor ulterior motives for the showdown.
Meanwhile, Bahrain, which is home to the US Fifth Fleet,
is also close to purchasing Russia’s latest anti-aircraft system the S-400,
according to Russian media reports.
“We are currently in the stage of negotiations, but with
God’s help we will finish this process,” Russia’s Sputnik news outlet quoted
Commander of Bahrain’s Royal Guards Nasser bin Hamad al-Khalifa as saying on
October 16.
“Bahrain and Russia have established broad cooperation in
the military sector. Meetings are being held, negotiations are taking place,
relations have also been established between the leadership of two countries,”
he added.
Earlier in October, Russia and Saudi Arabia announced a
major deal for the S-400 surface-to-air missiles during a visit by Saudi King
Salman to Moscow.
Egypt and Qatar are also reportedly seeking to purchase
Russia’s S-400.
The rush for arms deals with Russia comes as the Arab
states have already signed multi-billion dollar military agreements with the US
at the height of a deadly Saudi-led campaign against Yemen.
During his visit to Saudi Arabia in early June, US
President Donald Trump signed the largest single arms deal in US history with
King Salman to sell Riyadh $110 billion in arms.
The US also signed a $12-billion deal to sell F-15
fighter jets to Qatar in mid-June and concluded a $3.8-billion deal to sell 16
upgraded F-16 fighter jets to Bahrain in October.
While Manama regime is under fire by the international
community for its heavy-handed crackdown on dissidents and political activists,
the US State Department has removed human rights conditions on the sale of F-16
fighter jets to the country.
Original post: presstv.com
According to Russia’s Sputnik news agency, the package
agreement includes a $500-million deal for S-400 anti-aircraft system as well
as the sale of Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft system, light armored vehicles, tank
defense systems and mortar.
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