It has been announced by the US that it will restart selling Saudi Arabia offensive arms. At this point, US expectations that Riyadh will contribute to the settlement of the Gaza crisis give way to worries about rights violations in the monarchy’s fight in Yemen.
The United States placed the arms sales restrictions due to Saudi Arabia’s attacks in Yemen in 2021 on the basis of human rights concerns. According to the US department of State, it will resume selling arms “in regular order, with appropriate notification and consultation” from Congress.
Riyadh continues to be an important geopolitical ally of the Washington, a representative for the state department said. The country is eager to strengthen that alliance. When Joe Biden became president three years ago, he promised to tackle Saudi Arabia with a human rights-focused strategy.
Without delay, the new president said that the government would only provide the seasoned US arms buyer with “defensive” weapons. The action was taken in response to estimates that bombings on Houthi troops by Saudi-led aircraft claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of non-military groups. The majority of Yemeni lands had been overrun by the Houthis after a popular rebellion during the Arab spring.
The strategic landscape has, however, evolved significantly since 2021. A year after taking office, the US new government and the UN mediated a ceasefire in Yemen that has mainly remained in place.
Saudi airstrikes into Yemen have ceased completely since the ceasefire, while cross-border gunfire from Yemeni soils into Saudi lands and assets has mainly halted. “Since then, the Saudis have fulfilled their obligations, and we stand ready to fulfill ours,” stated Vedant Patel.
Saudi Arabia is happy to remain on neutral ground as the United States, Britain, and most lately Israel have been hitting Houthi sites in Yemen. In an apparent show of support for Palestinians, the Houthi forces have started launching missiles against commercial vessels in the strategically important Red Sea and Gulf of Eden. Tel Aviv has been targeting civilians in Gaza since Hamas assault last year.
US Secretary of State has visited Saudi Arabia many times in an effort to establish a stable settlement, discussing a combination of US leverages in exchange for the Saudi recognition of Israel as an official state governing in Palestinian lands. Saudi Arabia has asked for continuous arms supplies, security assurances from the US, and maybe even a peaceful nuclear agreement if it establishes relations with Israel.
One of the main priorities of Israeli Prime Minister is mending of relations with Arab governments. Definitely, no award could compare to Saudi Arabia, the defender of the two holiest places in Islam, for bolstering the Abraham accords that has already been in place with a dozen of other Arab nations. Saudi Arabia, nevertheless, asserts that it cannot move with no Palestinian state’s advancement. The White House promoted the concept in an attempt to find a diplomatic solution to the Gaza crisis, but Israel and his far-right supporters fiercely rejected it.
