The U.S. is atop global weapon exports with 5 Middle Eastern countries as its main arm transfer clients.
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) - a reputable independent Sweden-based institute committed to researching conflict, armaments, arms control, and disarmament - has published a report earlier in February on the Trends in International Arms Transfers.
The study has revealed that the major weapon transfers of 2012-16 have hiked up by 8.4 percent than those of 2007-11; with the biggest importers being India, Saudi Arabia, UAE, China, and Algeria. Those top 5 countries received accumulatively 34 percent of the global imports.
Here are the Middle Eastern countries with the highest U.S. arms imports between 2012 and 2016.
1. Saudi Arabia
According to SIPRI, Saudi Arabia is the U.S.' biggest recipient, holding about 13 percent of all U.S. arms deals.
Between 2012-16, the U.S. has supplied 52 percent of the kingdom's arms deals. Saudi Arabia also imports from the UK (48 percent) and Spain (12 percent).
2. United Arab Emirates
Percentages are sightly higher with the UAE, as SIPRI stated that around 62 percent of UAE's deals were American, far exceeding their deals with France (12 percent) and Italy (6.5 percent).
UAE counts as Asia's third-biggest weapon importer. The country's share has increased from 3.1 percent in 2007-11 to 4.6 percent in 2012-16.
3. Turkey
Turkey's arms share has also grown between 2007 and 2016 to reach 3.3 percent. The U.S. currently provides 63 percent of the country's arms.
Turkey is Italy's main client, reserving around 14 percent of its total weapon exports.
4. Iraq
The U.S. supplies around 56 percent of Iraqi arms deals, while Russia counts for 23 percent and South Korea for 9.3 percent.
Iraqi imports have grown by 123 percent between 2007 and 2016. According to the report, the delivery of 29 combat aircraft from the U.S., 43 combat helicopters from Russia, and 24 combat aircraft from S. Korea were the main attribution to that increase.
5. Egypt
Both the U.S. and France share 40 percent of Egypt's arms imports; Germany comes in second with 6 percent.
Egypt has recently took part in large French deals including 5 submarines and 24 combat aircraft, and Russian deals including 50 combat aircraft and 46 combat helicopters.