Trump Policy… Has the US Congress Previously Suspended the Sale of Armed Drones to Morocco?

In the event that the new administration approves Trump's policy in this field, it is expected that Morocco will receive the four drones.

In the event that the new administration approves Trump’s policy in this field, it is expected that Morocco will receive the four drones.

Reuters reported yesterday, Thursday, that the administration of US President Joe Biden wants to keep a controversial policy from the era of his predecessor, Donald Trump, which led to the start of the sale of armed drones to countries whose human rights records are subject to scrutiny in the United States and other countries.

The same source indicated that Biden’s retention of the policy of former US President Trump, in the field of arms sales, especially drones, would lead to the approval of many deals which were suspended by the US Congress, with countries such as Morocco and the United Arab Emirates, Taiwan, and India.

The same source added that members of the US Congress had previously suspended the sale of four drones to Morocco, due to objections to the decision to recognize Morocco’ sovereignty over Sahara, a deal that Donald Trump had agreed to last December.

In the event that the new administration approves Trump’s policy in this field, it is expected that Morocco will acquire the four drones.

In the same context, Reuters previously quoted three well-informed American sources as saying that the United States is negotiating the sale of at least four large and advanced MQ-9B drones to Morocco, and that consultations with Congress about the potential deal are expected to take place during the coming days.

The MQ-9B aircraft developed by General Atomics has a range of more than 11,000 km, and can scan large areas of land and sea.

The US National Security Council official said that the decision to continue adopting Trump’s policy “provides the U.S. government the flexibility to review UAS (unmanned aerial systems) export requests”, while continuing to exercise that “national discretion in ways consistent with our MTCR commitments, as well as “our strong commitment to U.S. national security, human rights, nonproliferation, and other foreign policy objectives”.

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