{"id":189513,"date":"2026-04-15T14:52:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T14:52:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/189513\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T14:52:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T14:52:30","slug":"the-war-in-the-middle-east-delays-the-delivery-of-30-mirage-2000-9-fighter-jets-to-morocco-by-the-united-arab-emirates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/189513\/","title":{"rendered":"The war in the Middle East delays the delivery of 30 Mirage 2000-9 fighter jets to Morocco by the United Arab Emirates"},"content":{"rendered":"

\tDelay of the Mirage 2000-9s<\/a><\/p>\n

\tAgreement with France<\/a><\/p>\n

\tUAE-Dassault negotiations<\/a><\/p>\n

\tNervousness in Morocco<\/a><\/p>\n

The intensification of the war in the Middle East and the implications this may have for the Gulf states have triggered a series of events that will ultimately affect the Moroccan Air Force<\/p>\n

Delay of the Mirage 2000-9s<\/p>\n

Before the Israeli and US airstrikes on Iran began, and Iran\u2019s response across multiple locations in the Gulf, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates had agreed on the transfer to the North African country of 30 Mirage 2000-9 fighter jets manufactured by the French company Dassault Aviation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to Africa Intelligence, the UAE\u2019s air defence forces have placed Al Dhafra Air Base (some 30 kilometres from Abu Dhabi), where the aircraft are stationed, on alert in case they need to be deployed to defend Emirati territory.<\/p>\n

\"Aviones
\nUS Air Force F-22 Raptor fighter jets arriving at Al Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) – Chelsea E. FitzPatrick\/Handout via REUTERS<\/p>\n

Agreement with France<\/p>\n

The transfer of the Emirati aircraft to the Moroccan Air Force had been authorised in 2024 by the French Interministerial Committee on Arms Exports (CIEEMG), just before French President Emmanuel Macron\u2019s state visit to Morocco in October 2024, which served to thaw Franco-Moroccan relations.<\/p>\n

France, as the manufacturer of the aircraft, had the final say on the transfer of the Mirage 2000-9s to Morocco, as the sales contract between Abu Dhabi and Dassault prevented the supply of the aircraft to a third party without France\u2019s approval.<\/p>\n

Authorisation for the delivery of the aircraft was delayed until diplomatic relations between the two countries were restored.<\/p>\n

In fact, the Moroccan Foreign Minister, Nasser Bourita, discussed this matter at a meeting with his counterpart St\u00e9phane S\u00e9journ\u00e9, which brought an end to two years of disagreements over France\u2019s reluctance to explicitly recognise Morocco\u2019s autonomy plan for Western Sahara.<\/p>\n

The outbreak of the conflict and Iran\u2019s bombing of targets on Emirati territory forced Abu Dhabi to undertake, as a matter of urgency, an inspection of the Mirage aircraft\u2019s fuselages and engines, in case it became necessary to deploy them during the conflict.<\/p>\n

\"El
\nMorocco\u2019s Foreign Minister, Nasser Bourita, shakes hands with French Foreign Minister, St\u00e9phane S\u00e9journ\u00e9, in Rabat, Morocco, on 26 February 2024 – REUTERS\/ AHMED ELMJECHITIMI<\/p>\n

UAE-Dassault negotiations<\/p>\n

The situation regarding this three-way deal has been further complicated by the fact that it also depends on the delivery to the United Arab Emirates Air Force of 80 Rafale F4 aircraft, under a contract signed with the French firm Dassault Aviation in 2021.<\/p>\n

According to Africa Intelligence, Abu Dhabi withdrew, in early April, from the development programme for the new Rafale F5 fighter jet, which also implies the withdrawal of funding for the project.<\/p>\n

This has necessitated the initiation of negotiations with Dassault to determine compliance with the contract signed by both parties in 2021 regarding the 80 Rafale F4s. Emirati sources have even suggested the possibility that Abu Dhabi may seek an alternative supplier for its air force, which would ultimately have repercussions for Morocco.<\/p>\n

\"Vista
\nA view of a RAFALE M F4 fighter jet at the French Ministry of the Armed Forces\u2019 stand during the 55th Paris Air Show, held at Le Bourget Airport near Paris (France), on 16 June 2025 – REUTERS\/BENOIT TESSIER<\/p>\n

Nervousness in Morocco<\/p>\n

In the North African country, the outcome of the Franco-Emirati negotiations is awaited to unblock the delivery of the Mirage 2000-9s. The arrival in Algeria of the first Russian-made Sukhoi Su-57E units for the Algerian air force is causing concern in Morocco, which sees its regional rival beginning to acquire fifth-generation fighters.<\/p>\n

\"Caza
\nA Russian Sukhoi Su-57 fighter jet on display during the Aero India 2025 air show, held at Yelahanka Air Force Base in Bangalore, India, on 11 February 2025 – PHOTO\/REUTERS<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the delay regarding the Mirage 2000-9s, coupled with uncertainty over the delivery date of the 25 F-16 Block 70\/72 aircraft ordered from the US firm Lockheed Martin<\/a> under a contract dating back to 2019, is causing concern for the Moroccan government, particularly in the current geopolitical context in the Middle East.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Delay of the Mirage 2000-9s Agreement with France UAE-Dassault negotiations Nervousness in Morocco The intensification of the war…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":189514,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[97044,55033,11636,62321,658,41780,29258,62323,158,23704,165,45348,41781,261,42686,248,42685,41202,10713],"class_list":{"0":"post-189513","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-morocco","8":"tag-aeronautica","9":"tag-aeronautics","10":"tag-aeronautique","11":"tag-emiratos-arabes-unidos","12":"tag-france","13":"tag-francia","14":"tag-la-france","15":"tag-les-emirats-arabes-unis","16":"tag-maroc","17":"tag-marruecos","18":"tag-morocco","19":"tag-politica","20":"tag-politica-marruecos","21":"tag-politics","22":"tag-politics-morocco","23":"tag-politique","24":"tag-politique-maroc","25":"tag-portada","26":"tag-united-arab-emirates"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@africa\/116409292928798040","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}