US reverses ban on offensive weapons sales to S Arabia

The Biden administration will be lifting a three-year-old ban on the sales of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia, a senior official confirmed to Reuters, indicating a significant policy shift which was previously aimed at pressuring the kingdom to scale down its involvement in the Yemen war.

The senior official from the United States State Department said that the suspension on certain transfers of air-to-ground munitions to Saudi Arabia would be lifted, with new transfers being evaluated on a "typical case-by-case basisconsistent with the Conventional Arms Transfer Policy."

Congress has been briefed on the decision, Reuters reported citing a congressional aide. Additionally, one source indicated that sales could resume as early as next week.

The US government has reportedly begun the process of notifying relevant parties about potential sales, indicating a forthcoming change in US-Saudi military relations.

"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.

But that opposition has softened amid turmoil in the Middle East following Hamas' deadly October 7 attack on Israel and because of changes in the conduct of the campaign in Yemen.

Since March 2022 — when the Saudis and Houthis entered into a United Nations-led truce — there have not been any Saudi airstrikes 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 advisors," 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 Houthis in Yemen.

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 defense 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 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 Hamas in its war against Israel. Earlier this year, they attacked commercial ships that they said are linked to Israel or bound for Israeli ports.