US to Expedite Military Sales to Bahrain: Blinken
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken has made it clear that his country would expedite sales of advanced military equipment to the Bahrain, despite the Persian Gulf country's ongoing violations of human rights.
“We’re expediting sophisticated military sales—including recently announced F-16 support to Bahrain and some of the most advanced ships in the world for Saudi Arabia to patrol the (Persian) Gulf," Blinken said at the annual Manama Dialogue, in the Bahrain capital of Manama on Saturday.
"Also air and missile defense systems to UAE, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait will be given,” he added, DT News Network (newsofbahrain.com) reported.
The US lifted restrictions on military aid to Bahrain on July despite ongoing human rights concerns linked to month's of popular protests against the island kingdom's rulers.
Home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, the US government has been reluctant to criticize Bahraini regime's heavy-handed crackdown on the pro-democracy protesters.
Blinken also noted that Arab states and dozens of other partners had joind the US to defeat ISIL.
“Fourteen months ago, this coalition didn’t exist. In the short time since, it has launched more than 7,700 airstrikes. It forced Daesh (ISIL) to change its military operations. It confronted its propaganda machine and deprived it of 30 per cent of the territory in Iraq that it once held,” he said.
