There are reports that the Biden administration is mulling the resumption of the sale of offensive arms to Saudi Arabia. This decision is an attempt to reset ties with the Middle Eastern country amid the rising tensions between Iran and the United States.
Throughout his Presidential campaign, Joe Biden had a tough stance on Saudi Arabia, denouncing it as a “pariah.”
Soon after being sworn in as President in 2020, he adopted a harsher position over Saudi Arabia’s campaign against the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen, which has inflicted heavy civilian casualties. In particular, the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist and political opponent Jamal Khashoggi further impacted Riyadh’s human rights record. Biden declared a halt to US support for offensive operations in Yemen in February 2021, including “relevant arms sales.”
Any final decision is expected to hinge on whether Saudi makes headway toward ending the war in the neighbouring country of Yemen, according to people familiar with the matter.
Senior Saudi officials pushed to scrap the policy of selling only defensive arms to its top Gulf partner in several meetings in Riyadh and Washington in recent months.
Many have questioned and opposed President Biden’s decision to visit Saudi Arabia, seeing it as lending legitimacy to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi de facto leader who was found to be behind Jamal Khashoggi’s murder according to the US intelligence community.
Among the likely opponents is Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, a staunch critic of the Saudi campaign in Yemen who applauded Biden when he froze offensive arms sales in the first place. An aide said Murphy does not believe now is the time to resume such supplies.
The internal US deliberations are informal and at an early stage with no decision imminent. However, as Biden prepares for a diplomatically sensitive trip, he has signaled that he is looking to reset strained relations with Saudi Arabia at a time when he wants increased gulf oil supplies along with closer Arab security ties with Israel to counter Iran.
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