The US suspends arms sales to Taiwan to guarantee ammunition in its war against Iran
The acting secretary of the Navy announced the temporary suspension of arms sales to Taiwan to prioritize the manufacture of ammunition for the United States
Hung Cao, Acting Secretary of the Navy, announced that, due to the ongoing war against Iran, the US government temporarily stopped nearly $14 billion in arms sales to Taiwan.
In a hearing of the Defense Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, the former military man born in Vietnam pointed out that, despite having a large arsenal to continue in the war, the US government chose to produce more ammunition and stop manufacturing to supply its allies.
"Right now, we are pausing to make sure we have the ammunition needed for Epic Fury. We are just making sure we have everything, but foreign military sales will resume when the administration deems it necessary," he said.
Since the start of the war against the Islamic Republic on February 28, the United States has launched thousands of missiles on Iranian territory and spent a fortune without yet reaching an agreement that guarantees the end of uranium enrichment with the aim of manufacturing nuclear weapons.
Furthermore, the Strait of Hormuz remains closed to the navigation of oil tankers, prolonging an energy crisis that will most likely force the United States to intensify its offensive in the Middle East.
Anticipating this, it was decided to prioritize the manufacture of more missiles and ammunition for its armed forces.
Under this approach, the White House intends to obtain from Congress a supplementary budget that would be between $80,000 and $100,000 million dollars to continue the war.
Part of that amount of money would be used to replace the high quota of missiles used in less than three months.
However, Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense, rejects that the United States' weapons reserves have decreased to alarming levels as critics of the Trump administration would have us believe.
"The issue of ammunition has been exaggerated in a reckless and useless way. We know exactly what we have. We have more than what we need," the former television presenter expressed a few days ago before the members of the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee.