The United States lifted the ban on arms sale to Saudi Arabia. This action is mainly due to selling more weapons to Israel. Many experts said that it is good for Saudi Arabia to stop spending money on weapons. They believe that this way is not good to address complexities in the region. The United States claims that due to the current situation in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia needs these weapons.
After the attack on October 7, the situation worsened day-by-day. The conflict between Hamas and Israel is also increasing. According to the United States, lifting the ban is compulsory due to the threats that have increased rapidly. Iran and Hezbollah also made promises to retaliate against Israel. This is because the great leader of Hamas was killed in Tehran. Overall, it seems that the US decision to lift the ban is more about making a justification for arms sales than genuinely solving the issues in the region.
The United States sold many weapons whose worth is millions of dollars. According to this nation, Iran posed a bigger threat to Saudi Arabia than Israel. Despite this fact, the Saud Arabia is more worried about possible attacks from the United States and Israel. According to Saudi Arabia, both of these nations are more harmful for Saudi citizens as compared to any other nation. The stance of the Biden Administration has changed. They are lifting a three-year ban on selling offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia. This ban was basically to pressurize Saudi Arabia to end conflict in Yemen.
According to Reuters, the State Department will now allow certain transfers of air-to-ground munitions to Saudi Arabia. Each transfer will be reviewed individually based on the Conventional Arms Transfer Policy. Congress has been briefed on this decision, and sales could begin as soon as next week. The U.S. government is moving forward with the necessary notifications for these sales.
According to the senior Biden Administration, “ The Saudis have met their end of the deal, and we are prepared to meet ours.”
This the United State law that Congress must review all deals of international weapons before they get finalized. Recently, a serious concern has been shown by lawmakers of both parties. This is about sending offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia due to civilian harm in Yemen and human rights issues.
Furthermore, the opposition to the arms sale to Saudi Arabia has decreased. This is due to the unrest in the Middle East following Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023 and changes in the Yemen conflict.
Since the truce in March 2022, the attacks in Saudi Arabia have ended. At that time, the Saudi airstrikes in Yemen had also stopped. The Saudi Ministry of Defense is also trying to lessen the harm to civilians. This is done with the help of the United State’s advice and training. It is also important to know that the Yemen war is the part of the conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Also the Houthis have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition since 2015. This action leads to many deaths and also many people need help.
According to the actions of Saudi Arabia, Joe Biden made the right choice to ban weapons selling to Saudi Arabia in 2021. He did this because the conflict between Saud Arabia and Yemen caused many deaths. This Saudi-led campaign against the Houthis in Yemen also made the situation challenging.
Since then, the US and Saudi Arabia have gotten along better. The US has been working with Saudi Arabia, especially after the Hamas attack on October 7, to figure out what to do about Gaza.
The Biden administration is also negotiating a defense agreement and a nuclear cooperation deal with Saudi Arabia. This is part of a larger plan that hopes for Saudi Arabia to start relations with Israel, though this is still a tough goal.
The Houthis have been strongly supporting Hamas in its fight against Israel. Earlier this year, they attacked ships they said were connected to Israel or heading to Israeli ports.