US to allow offensive weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, reversing 3-year ban

“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.

Since March 2022 – when the Saudis and Houthis entered into a UN-led truce – there have not been any Saudi air strikes 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 advisers,” the State Department official said.

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 7 attack to devise a plan for post-war Gaza.

The Biden administration also has been negotiating a defence pact and an agreement for civil nuclear cooperation with Riyadh as part of a broad deal that envisions Saudi Arabia normalising ties with Israel, although that remains an elusive goal.

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.

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 were linked to Israel or bound for Israeli ports.