According to reports on January 28, 2013 a permit was obtained from the US government by the Egyptian government to buy 140000 tear gas canisters since current stocks have been depleted over the course of two years of revolution and strife. A letter from the Egyptian Interior Ministry to the Defense Ministry asked that an order for more bombs be made because the incidents were ongoing and that they were needed to preserve the nation's safety from rioters. The Interior Ministry also asked that the shipment be sent by air after a delay in sea transportation because of an 'urgent need.'
A US State Department spokesperson, when asked about the transfer, said, "Whether we're talking about Egypt or any other country or any other country on the planet, frankly, we support the right of peaceful protest as one means for citizens to express themselves to their government. But the protest has to be peaceful and the response to the protest has to be restrained and peaceful on the part of the government."
Letters between the Egyptian Interior and Defense Ministries indicate that the permit from the US was only allowed after the tear gas had labels of the country of origin removed from them. This is in response to pictures like the one posted above of a tear gas canister used against protesters in Tahrir Square in Egypt in 2011 that show that the tear gas was made in the US state of Pennsylvania.
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