Peace activists denounced the Biden administration’s clearance of more than $5 billion in missile sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, a decision that came weeks after US President Joe Biden visited the leaders of both nations despite human rights advocates’ appeals.
The US Department of Defense said that the US State Department has authorized the sale of 300 Raytheon Patriot MIM-104E missiles to Saudi Arabia for $3.05 billion, as well as 96 Lockheed Martin Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missiles to the UAE for $2.25 billion.
The decision comes shortly after the renewal of a UN-brokered truce in Yemen, where a US-supported, Saudi-led coalition commanded by the UAE is fighting Houthi rebels backed by the Iranian government. The deal is also approved only days before a virtual Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) ministerial meeting.
The Pentagon stated that the proposed sales “will support the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a partner country that is a force for political stability and economic progress in the Gulf region,” citing “persistent Houthi cross-border” drone and missile attacks against Saudi Arabia.
However, anti-war activists warned that such sales would merely prolong a seven-year conflict in which over 300,000 people have been dead, millions have been displaced, and millions more are facing famine and illness in what is often regarded as the world’s greatest humanitarian disaster.
Yemeni independent journalist Naseh Shaker tweeted that the Biden administration’s intention to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia, which will “use them in its onslaught on Yemen,” belies the US’s professed commitment to peace in his war-torn country.
The missile deals came just weeks after US President Joe Biden visited Saudi Arabia, where he met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and other regional leaders, despite pleas from human rights defenders who drew attention to the coalition’s alleged and documented war crimes in Yemen, as well as the Saudi monarchy’s repressive domestic rule.
A now-infamous photo of Biden fist-bumping bin Salman contrasted sharply with then-candidate Biden’s campaign commitment to label Saudi Arabia a “pariah” for the heinous murder of writer Jamal Khashoggi and other human rights violations.
Biden temporarily halted arms supplies to the nation and the UAE after assuming office and announced the offensive support restriction. Human rights advocates were disappointed, however, when the administration authorized a $650 million sale of air-to-air missiles to the Royal Saudi Air Force and a $500 million support services contract for Saudi military helicopters. Biden’s travel in July also coincided with news that his administration is considering relaxing its ambiguous ban on the sale of “offensive” US weapons to Saudi Arabia.