State Department Won’t Confirm U.S. Weapons Sale to Jordan

The State Department refused to confirm today that the Reagan Administration has decided to sell weapons to Jordan.

“We have been holding discussions with the Jordanians about the possibility of same military sales,” Department spokesman Dean Fischer said. He added that he had nothing to announce at the present and stressed that any proposed sale would have to be approved by Congress.

Fischer was responding to a question about reports that at last week’s meeting in Jordan between U.S. Defense Department and Jordanian officials, the U.S agreed to sell Jordan F-5G aircraft which is superior to the present American-made fighters Jordan has and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, a missile which can be fired from the shoulder of an infontryman.

The Pentagon officials reportedly offered these weapons while turning down the F-16 jets and Hawk mobile anti-aircraft missiles the Jordanians want. Since it was reported earlier this year that the U.S. may sell those weapons to the Jordanians, there has been an outburst of opposition to the sale in Congress.

Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, in a Pentagon briefing to the Leadership Conference of the World Assembly of Jewish War Veterans last week, said he would look favorably at a request from Jordan to “upgrade” their air force and to institute mobile anti-aircraft defenses. He said that Jordan is threatened by both Iran and Syria.

But he stressed that any arms sales in the region would take into consideration the United States’ “unswerving commitment to Israel’s military superiority.” Meanwhile, the Reagan Administration is not expected to formally propose any arms sales to Jordan until after the November Congressional election.