The new US mantra is that the Kingdom need weapons amid
turmoil in the Middle East following Hamas' deadly attack on Israel and
fears of war in the Middle East.
According
to the United States, the decision comes as the threat level in the region has
been heightened since late last month, with Iran and Lebanon's powerful
Iran-backed Hezbollah group vowing to retaliate against Israel after
Hamas' political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran.
One may recall that in the past United States had sold
weapons worth billions of dollars, using its mantra, “Iran is a bigger threat for
Saudi Arabia as compared to Israel”.
Our perspective is that the Middle East in general and Saudi
Arabia in particular does not fear any attack on its soil from any country except
United States and its proxy Israel.
Reportedly, the Biden administration has decided to lift a
ban on sale of US offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia, reversing a three-year-old
policy to pressure the kingdom to wind down the Yemen war. Reuters was first to
report the decision earlier.
The State Department was lifting its suspension on certain
transfers of air-to-ground munitions to Saudi Arabia, a senior department
official confirmed.
"We
will consider new transfers on a typical case-by-case basis consistent with the
Conventional Arms Transfer Policy," the official said.
The administration briefed Congress this week on its decision
to lift the ban, a congressional aide said. One source said sales could resume
as early as next week. The US government was moving ahead on Friday afternoon
with notifications about a sale, a person briefed on the matter said.
"The Saudis have met their end of the deal, and we are
prepared to meet ours," a senior Biden administration official said.
Under
US law, major international weapons deals must be reviewed by members of
Congress before they are made final. Democratic and Republican lawmakers have
questioned the provision of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia in recent years,
citing issues including the toll on civilians of its campaign in Yemen and a
range of human rights concerns.
But that opposition has softened amid turmoil in the Middle
East following Hamas' deadly October 07, 2023 attack on Israel and because
of changes in the conduct of the campaign in Yemen.
Since
March 2022 - when the Saudis and Houthis entered into an UN-led truce - there
have not been any Saudi airstrikes in Yemen and cross-border fire from Yemen
into the kingdom has largely stopped, the administration official said.
"We also note the positive steps that the Saudi
Ministry of Defense have taken over the past three years to substantially
improve their civilian harm mitigation processes, in part thanks to the work of
US trainers and advisors," the State Department official said
Yemen's war is seen as one of several proxy battles between
Iran and Saudi Arabia. The Houthis ousted a Saudi-backed government from Sanaa
in late 2014 and have been at war against a Saudi-led military alliance since
2015, a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and left 80%
of Yemen's population dependent on humanitarian aid.
Biden
adopted the tougher stance on weapons sales to Saudi Arabia in 2021, citing the
kingdom's campaign against the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen, which has
inflicted heavy civilian casualties.
Ties between the kingdom and the United States have warmed
since then, as Washington has worked more closely with Riyadh in the aftermath
of Hamas' October 07 attack to devise a plan for post-war Gaza.
The
Biden administration also has been negotiating a defense pact and an
agreement for civil nuclear cooperation with Riyadh as part of a broad deal
that envisions Saudi Arabia normalizing ties with Israel, although that remains
an elusive goal.
The Houthis have emerged as a strong supporter of the
Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in its war against Israel. Earlier this year,
they attacked commercial ships that they said are linked to Israel or bound for
Israeli ports.
