“West with its Iranophobia policy convinces the reactionary Arabs, which consider the Islamic Republic as a threat, that they should maintain a high level of arms readiness. This is while Iran’s weapons are meant for deterrence...,” Hamid Reza Tabatabaei Naieni said on Wednesday.
He added that oil-rich Persian Gulf countries have been buying arms and stockpiling them into their arsenals for several years due to the provocations from the United States and Europe.
Tabatabaei Naieni also noted that Western powers sell outdated and obsolete military equipment to Arabs, and the Arab rulers falsely assume that these instruments can save their dictatorial regimes.
The lawmaker pointed to the United Arab Emirates’ recent defense contracts and stated that the Western powers aim to get back the money they spend on buying oil from Arab states by selling them military equipment.
“The Western countries seek to return the dollars, which have been paid to Arab states for buying oil, to their own countries by encouraging Arabs to buy Western military equipment,” he pointed out.
Major General Obaid al-Ketabi, chairman of the International Defense Exhibition & Conference (IDEX) said on February 18 that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has signed 17 defense contracts to purchase military equipment worth USD1.4 billion, including US manufactured Predator drones.
The United States is the biggest supplier of arms to the UAE, which is also France's biggest arms export destination. The lion's share of the UAE's spending goes to buying aircraft from the US and France, followed by missiles and air defense systems.
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