Barran Press
The United States announced on Monday, August 12, 2024, that it will resume selling offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia, reversing a years-long suspension citing human rights concerns in Yemen.
State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters that since the arms sales freeze, and with the Yemen truce holding, "Saudi Arabia has lived up to its side of the agreement and we are prepared to live up to ours."
He added, "Saudi Arabia remains a close strategic partner of the United States, and we look forward to enhancing this partnership."
Patel noted that since the truce, "Saudi Arabia has not conducted a single airstrike in Yemen and cross-border fire from Yemen into Saudi Arabia has largely ceased."
Last Friday, the US State Department revealed that President Joe Biden's administration had decided to lift the ban on the sale of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia, according to American media outlets.
A senior State Department official confirmed that the department had revoked the suspension of some air-to-ground munitions transfers to Saudi Arabia.
"We will consider new transfers and will address each case individually consistent with our conventional arms transfer policy," the official said.
US law mandates that members of Congress review major arms export deals before they are finalized.
In recent years, lawmakers from both the Democratic and Republican parties have raised questions about sending offensive weapons to the Kingdom, citing issues such as civilian casualties in Yemen and a range of human rights concerns.