In light of the Ukrainian crisis, Germany wants to buy American "F-35" fighters

BERLIN: The German government wants to supply its air force with American-made F-35 stealth fighters, according to government sources.

The sources said today, Monday, that it is scheduled to purchase the fighters from the American company, "Lockheed Martin", as a successor model to the "Tornado" fleet, which has been in use for more than 40 years.

The F-35 is the world's newest combat aircraft. Because of its special shape and outer coating, it is difficult for enemy radar to detect.

The sources said that the German armed forces are planning to buy up to 35 of those fighters.

It appears that the Berlin government has reconsidered and retracted its previous fears that the purchase of the "F-35" could negate joint plans with France to manufacture a joint European combat aircraft "Future Air Combat System (FCAS)."

In the case of the F-35, it was recently pointed out that NATO partners in Europe are also using the aircraft, and that “synergistic effects” will be possible during operation.

The current government had agreed to change the Tornado fleet in the coalition agreement drawn up after the general elections in September.

In light of reports of old and depleted equipment for years, the German army is currently upgrading its equipment.

Last month, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a massive increase in defense spending, saying it would make the nation's investments higher than the main commitment of 2% of GDP, as the Ukraine conflict forces Berlin to rethink its defense policy.

Schulz said that the German army would receive 100 billion euros from the federal budget for the implementation of investments and armaments projects.(dpa)

Le Figaro: The Iran nuclear deal finds itself hostage to the conflict in Ukraine

Paris - The French newspaper, Le Figaro, said today, Monday, that the file of the Vienna negotiations aimed at reviving the Iranian nuclear agreement , and after it was independent of the tensions of the major Western countries with Russia over Ukraine, the war overwhelmed him when Putin suddenly kidnapped him as a hostage By demanding guarantees in order to obtain exemptions from the massive sanctions the West has imposed on Moscow since the invasion of Ukraine.

In an article by Isabel Lassier, Le Figaro considered that the Kremlin raised questions about the Iranian nuclear agreement, which is about to expire, by demanding that these Western sanctions against Moscow do not impede Russian-Iranian economic cooperation. A decision was made to stop the negotiations on Friday 11 March “due to external factors” by Josep Borrell, the European Union's foreign policy chief.

"Le Figaro" quotes one of the European negotiators as saying that "taking the JCPOA hostage to get a rollback of the sanctions imposed on the Russians" is an "unacceptable" issue.

Because time is running out during the downtime, Iran's centrifuges keep spinning. Since 2018, Iran has accelerated its program, doubling the number of centrifuges needed to produce fissile material, and speeding up uranium enrichment to 60%. According to most experts, Iran has already accumulated enough enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb if the political decision is made to do so.

The new settlement, which some experts already viewed as an interest-rate cut deal, is meant to buy time over an Iranian nuclear bomb, but not to prevent it. Joe Biden, who has made returning to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action a diplomatic priority during his tenure, has agreed to lift a significant portion of Donald Trump's sanctions in exchange for Iran's return to its international obligations. Some in the United States , Europe and Israel consider Biden to have made many concessions to Iranian officials, as Le Figaro notes.

In an interview with the Iranian "IRNA" agency, Russian negotiator Mikhail Ulyanov claimed that Tehran got "much more than expected" in the Vienna negotiations. The concessions made by the Americans, which the Europeans seemed unable or unwilling to prevent, caused the resignation of three members of the American team led by Robert Malley, the American envoy to Iran.

Today, "Le Figaro" continues, the Russian embargo, which aims to circumvent sanctions and punish the West and maintain a barrel of oil at a high price by preventing the flow of Iranian oil to the market, risks leading to the death of the Iranian nuclear agreement, which is gradually emptied of its content.

“Every passing day exposes the agreement more to external factors,” Le Figaro quotes a European negotiator, who considered that “if the official obstruction of matters is final, the Western countries will have to consider other options.” This is what prompted Le Figaro to conclude her article, asking: “A deal without Russia? Or the collapse of a deal near the finish line?”