WASHINGTON: The United States confirmed Monday it would resume sales of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia, as concerns over human rights in the kingdom’s Yemen war give way to US hopes for it to play a role in resolving the conflict in Gaza.
More than three years after imposing limits on human rights grounds over Saudi strikes in Yemen, the State Department said it would return to weapons sales “in regular order, with appropriate congressional notification and consultation.”
“Saudi Arabia has remained a close strategic partner of the United States, and we look forward to enhancing that partnership,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.
US President Joe Biden took office in 2021 pledging a new approach to Saudi Arabia that emphasized human rights, and immediately announced that the administration would only send “defensive” weaponry to the longtime US arms customer.
The step came after thousands of civilians – including children – were estimated to be killed in Saudi-led airstrikes against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, who have taken over much of Yemen.
US to lift ban on offensive weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, sources say
Geopolitical considerations have, however, changed markedly since then. The United Nations, with US support, brokered a truce in Yemen in early 2022 that has largely held.
Since the truce, “there has not been a single Saudi airstrike into Yemen and cross-border fire from Yemen into Saudi Arabia has largely stopped,” Patel said.
“The Saudis since that time have met their end of the deal, and we are prepared to meet ours,” Patel said.
Saudi role in Gaza war
It is now the United States, Britain and recently Israel that have been striking Houthi targets in Yemen, with Saudi Arabia content to watch from the sidelines.
The Houthis have been firing missiles at commercial ships in the vital Red Sea in professed solidarity with Palestinians, who have been in the crosshairs of Israel since the October 7 attack by Hamas.
American Dollar Exchange Rate