US OKs $1B arms sale to Qatar during key World Cup match

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has approved a $1 billion arms sale to Qatar in a transaction unveiled during halftime of the key World Cup 2022 match in Doha between Iran and the United States. The State Department announced Tuesday it had signed off on Qatar’s purchase of 10 defensive drone systems, 200 interceptors and related equipment just as the second half of the US-Iran game began. It said the sale would “support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States” and “will improve Qatar’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing electronic and kinetic defeat capabilities against Unmanned Aircraft Systems.”