The US State Department approved the potential sale of 48 F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia in a deal estimated at $24.3 billion. The move, which US President Donald Trump announced last year, clears one of the most significant formal hurdles on the way to completing the sale.
According to the notification, the package would also include 49 Pratt & Whitney engines, one of them a spare, as well as communications equipment, spare parts, training and logistical support. "The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the military balance in the region," the State Department said in a notice quoted by Reuters.
The deal has now been submitted to Congress, where lawmakers have 30 days to object. Even if the sale ultimately goes ahead, negotiations over the final terms, contract signing and production of the aircraft are expected to take years.
The move could end Israel's regional exclusivity as the only country in the Middle East currently operating the F-35. The Israeli Air Force flies a customized version known as the F-35I Adir, incorporating Israeli-developed systems and unique operational capabilities.
US law requires the administration to preserve Israel's qualitative military edge, and US officials have previously assessed that aircraft supplied to Saudi Arabia could have reduced capabilities compared with Israel's version. Israeli defense officials, however, have previously voiced concern that introducing fifth-generation fighter jets into the arsenal of an Arab neighbor could erode Israel's air superiority. Before the sale is completed, a formal assessment of its effect on Israel's qualitative military edge will be required.
Saudi Arabia submitted its request directly to Trump, and it advanced through the Pentagon over the past year. In November, Trump announced that he intended to approve the sale.
During a White House meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Trump was asked whether the aircraft Riyadh would receive would be the same as Israel's. "I think it's going to be pretty similar, yeah," Trump replied.
He acknowledged that Israel would prefer Saudi Arabia to receive less advanced aircraft, saying, "I know they'd like you to get planes of reduced caliber." But he added: "As far as I'm concerned, I think they are both at a level where they should get top of the line."
Israel has previously sought to link the sale to normalization between Jerusalem and Riyadh, but the State Department's announcement made no mention of such a condition. The approval comes amid a growing threat to Saudi Arabia from the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, who have recently attacked targets in the kingdom.
Alongside the deepening US-Saudi security relationship, the Trump administration on announced an expansion of sanctions targeting the financial network associated with Iranian businessman Babak Zanjani, a key figure in Tehran's sanctions-evasion apparatus.
The US Treasury Department added three Iranian nationals and two entities to its sanctions list. The action targeted BitBank, an Iranian digital-asset exchange controlled by Zanjani; its developer, Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company; and three Zanjani associates. In July, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on additional members of Zanjani's network, which Washington says has used financial services, gold and precious gems, digital assets and major transportation and infrastructure projects to obscure ownership, launder revenue and covertly transfer funds.
These latest sanctions are part of Operation Economic Outcast, the Trump administration's campaign to economically isolate Iran. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said the campaign is intended to "sever every economic lifeline" sustaining the Iranian regime.
