Turkey Reportedly Sells Russian S-400 Systems to Gulf State to Rejoin F-35 Program

Turkey has sold the Russian-made S-400 air defense missile systems it purchased from Russia to one of the Gulf states, according to the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet. Report Claims S-400 Systems Were Sold to a Gulf Country "According to the information available to me, the S-400 systems have been sold to a third country. The deal will be announced today (July 10). The S-400s are being transferred to one of the Gulf states," wrote Abdulkadir Selvi, a journalist for Hürriyet. According to him, efforts were underway the previous day to resolve "certain issues," and those problems had been settled by midnight. Some of the journalist's sources said the buyer was the United Arab Emirates, while others claimed the systems had been purchased by Qatar. The article notes that both countries require advanced air defense systems because of rising regional tensions following the conflict between the United States and Iran. Turkish authorities have not officially announced the deal.