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US Republican senators push Biden to expedite arms sales to Israel

An Israeli regime's Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker and F-16 fighter jets fly over Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv. (Photo by AFP)

Eleven pro-Israel US Republican senators, led by Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, are pushing the Biden administration to expedite pending weapons sales to the Israeli regime prior to Washington’s potential return to the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran.

The hawkish senators called on the administration in an official letter on Thursday “to take immediate action to provide Israel with the military capabilities it needs to defend itself from Iran” by rushing delivery of KC-46 refueling tanker aircraft, remaining F-35 and F-15 fighter jets, and CH-53K helicopters, the UK-based Al-Monitor reported Saturday.

The lawmakers, who regularly receive contributions and luxury tours of the occupied Palestine from the powerful Israeli lobby groups in the US, further insisted that the administration should continue to “ensure that Israel retains adequate stockpiles of US-made precision guided munitions” and adequate air defense capabilities.

According to the report, the Israeli military has sought in to replace its aging fleet of aerial refueling tankers in a bid to extend its strike range, noting that the occupying regime lacks the military capability to carry out its repeated threats to strike Iranian nuclear sites “without significant US support.”

The Tel Aviv regime, which is widely believed to possess hundreds of nuclear warheads and continues to reject any international inspection of its nuclear facilities, has falsely alleged that Iran’s civilian nuclear program, which has operated under close scrutiny of international inspectors, is aimed at producing weapons.

The Islamic Republic has strongly dismissed Israeli regime’s claims and has mocked its threats to strike its nuclear facilities, vowing to totally wipeout the occupying regime if it attempts any military action against it.

Meanwhile, the Israeli regime finalized more than $3 billion in deals last year with Lockheed-Martin and Sikorsky for new KC-46A mid-air refueling tankers and CH-53 heavy-lift helicopters, noting that its military intends to “adapt its capabilities to Iran’s advances in nuclear enrichment as well as ballistic missile, cruise missile and drone-laden conventional weapons.”

The report further unveils that despite the Israeli regime’s public opposition to the US return to the nuclear deal with Iran, Tel Aviv’s military officials increasingly view it as a potential opportunity to upgrade the regime’s “offensive and defensive capabilities” before Iran resumes nuclear enrichment.

According to the report, there are growing concerns among mostly Republican lawmakers in Washington that a return to the Iran nuclear agreement will increase the risks of occupying US forces and allies in the region, pointing out that Iranian authorities have rejected US insistence to include Tehran’s ballistic missile program and its persisting influence in the region as part of the current negotiations in Vienna.


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