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The United States yesterday approved the sale of Stinger missiles to Egypt worth $740 million, at a time of rapprochement between Washington and Cairo.
Earlier in September, the US State Department announced that it would release $1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt without conditions.
The US State Department has notified Congress of its approval of the sale to Egypt of 720 Stringer missiles for systems in Cairo’s possession.
“This will improve the security of a friendly nation that remains an important force for political stability and economic growth in the Middle East,” a ministry spokesman said in a statement.
The deal is expected to add to the backlog of US military supply requests, at a time when it provides military support to Ukraine to confront Russia, and Israel, which is waging a war against Hamas in Gaza and intensifying its air strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon. Washington has also received arms requests from Taiwan and NATO countries.
Washington has repeatedly approved arms deals for Cairo, one of the world’s largest recipients of US military aid, over the past few years.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Egypt last week, where he praised the cooperation between his country and Egypt in an effort to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
