To Thwart Iran, US Plans to Sell Bombs to UAE

With the world growing nervous about Iran’s allegedly accelerating nuclear weapons program, the US is drawing up plans to sell thousands of “bunker-buster” bombs to the United Arab Emirates, sources tell the Wall Street Journal. Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, the al Nahyans, is seen as one of the most hawkish Iran foes in the Persian Gulf, and the US is eager to build up an anti-Iran coalition.

“For them to be a regional leader … you have to enable them, they have to have credibility,” one military official explained. The plan, which could go before Congress in the coming days, is to sell the country 4,900 Boeing-built JDAMs, precision-guided bombs ideal for taking out Iran’s nuclear installations, along with other weapons systems. The UAE already has a fleet of US-built F-16s to deliver the bombs, and those planes have “a decisive edge” over Iran’s aging fleet, one military expert said. (More Iran stories.)