ALBAWABA - Security sources in Israel revealed that 12 American F-22 fighter jets arrived in Israel to join with the large U.S. Air Force strike aircraft fleet in the region, awaiting President Donald Trump's green light for an attack on Iran.
Yediot Aharonot cited sources that said that the arrival of a number of American fighters in Israel aims at pressuring the Iranians to enter negotiations.
According to the sources quoted by the Israeli newspaper, it is no coincidence that the Americans announced the arrival of the fighters two days before the talks scheduled to be held in Geneva on Thursday.
Each F-22 fighter jet costs more than $200 million.
In an unusual move, the 12 fighter jets landed in southern Israel as part of a U.S. troop buildup in preparation for a possible attack on Iran.
On the other side, Iran secretly inked a €500 million ($589 million) arms deal with Russia to acquire thousands of advanced shoulder-fired missiles with the aim of improving its air defenses that were damaged during the war with Israel, according to the Financial Times report.
The newspaper reported, citing leaked Russian documents and several people familiar with the deal, that the secret deal took place last December in the Russian capital of Moscow. The arms deal includes the delivery of 500 man-portable Verba launch units and 2,500 9M336 missiles over three years.
