US Weapons Sales to West Asia amidst the Iran War |
The State Department noted that the proposed sales will meet the national security objectives of the United States and help its regional partners meet current and future threats. The notifications highlight that the Secretary of State has determined that an ‘emergency exists’ which requires the ‘immediate sale’ of these weapons systems to these partner nations, waiving the Congressional review requirements under Section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act [AECA].
The AECA requires the US President to notify the US Congress 30 calendar days (or 15 days for weapons sales to Australia, Israel, NATO member states, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea) before concluding government-to-government FMS agreements. The AECA also gives the President the authority to waive the review periods, but must provide a justification and a description of the emergency circumstances.[iv] In April 2019, then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, for the first time, waived the Congressional reporting period for arms sales to Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.[v] Critics point out that the use of this reporting waiver precludes effective legislative scrutiny of the proposed arms sales.[vi]
Most State Department notifications to the US Congress in recent years regarding the sale of equipment through FMS to Israel and other regional countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, did not invoke the Congressional review waiver. On 3 February 2026, for instance, the US State Department notified Congress of a possible US$ 3 billion F-15 sustainment sale to Saudi Arabia.[vii] On 30 January 2026, an FMS sale to Israel of AH-64E Apache helicopters and related equipment, estimated at US$ 3.8 billion, was notified to the US Congress without a waiver of Congressional review.[viii] In February 2025 and December 2023, though, Secretary Rubio waived the AECA Section 36 Congressional review requirements for the sale of munitions (including JDAM guidance kits) and 120 mm tank cartridges to Israel, as indeed for the sale of ‘non-standard ammunition’ in April 2022 and Hawk missile system sustainment-related sales in April 2024 (both to Ukraine).[ix]
The 19 March State Department notifications relating to the proposed arms sales to the UAE, Kuwait and Jordan, meanwhile, highlight the requirement for ‘immediate sale’ of the listed weapons systems. Representative Gregory Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, criticised the Trump administration for the latest arms sales proposals and pointed out that only one of the defence items (out of the ‘dozen weapons cases covered by the emergency declaration’) is available for ‘immediate export’.[x]
The US State Department on 6 March notified Congress about the sale of 12,000 ‘BLU-110A/B general purpose, 1,000-pound bomb bodies’ to Israel. That notification specifically stated that ‘part of the BLU-110A/B requirement........