US arms destabilizing world: Iran's Zarif

Iran's foreign minister accused the US, as the world biggest arms exporter, of destabilizing attempts in the world by promoting weapons exports and arms race.

News ID: 71287

Date: 19 July 2018 - 19:39

TEHRAN(Defapress)-'US destabilizes the world with arms exports, draining budgets that could be used for a brighter future,' Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on his twitter page on Thursday.

'Yet its arms can't even secure its citizens: 35% of global military spending failed to stop 15 Saudis from murdering & injuring >9000 Americans on 9/11,' Zarif said.

The Trump administration is undertaking an effort to push US defense trade overseas, the country's deputy assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, Tina Kaidanow, said, according to the Defense News website.

Kaidanow, who was speaking to reporters on Monday at an air show in London, made a reference to a plan titled “Buy American” that is drawn up with the aim of encouraging arm deals to boost the US economy.

Saudi Arabia, who has become notorious for its wars in the Middle East, has received the greatest number of US weapons since 2010, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Arms Transfers Database.

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