According to reports published July 3, Germany has agreed to sell 200 new Leopard battle tanks to Saudi Arabia, Saudi security sources said. The German government has not officially confirmed the deal, but if true it shows a major change in German arms export policy.

“So far, Saudi [Arabia] has bought 44 tanks from Germany and … in total wants to buy 200 tanks from Germany,” one of the security sources told Reuters.

The deal to buy the most modern Leopard tanks, the Type 2A7+, was approved in principle by the German security council last week, according to Der Spiegel.

The tanks are built by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall and a large number of them will be made in Germany.

Germany has denied Saudi requests for tanks for 20 years, saying such a sale would endanger Israel. But now it says the state of Saudi-Israeli relations means that Saudi Arabia is no longer a threat. The deal is still controversial in Germany, however. Green Member of Parliament Katja Keul says that the sale should not be approved because it goes against Germany’s policy of not exporting weapons to regions in crisis.

German newspaper Die Welt, however, supports the sale, saying in an editorial that Saudi Arabia needs the tanks to defend itself from Iran.

In May, Trumpet columnist Robert Morley wrote, “As we see Saudi Arabia and the other [Gulf Cooperation Council] member states seek to incorporate more allies to protect themselves from Iran, also watch for them to begin reaching out to Germany and the Europeans for protection.”

This alliance is starting to come together. It will go from arms sales to an actual military alliance. For more information on the German/Saudi Arabian relationship, read our article “The Battle for Bahrain and the Future of the Middle East.”