Weapons imports by Saudi Arabia and Qatar have rocketed by over 275 percent over the past four years, a new report found on Monday. Between 2011 and 2015, Gulf states were the most significant market for sales by the United States, the world’s biggest arms exporter, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) found. In a new report assessing worldwide trends in arms sales over the last four years, SIPRI found that increased demand from the Middle East had led a 14 per cent global rise in arms transfers.