US to resume sales of ‘offensive’ weapons to Saudi Arabia

WASHINGTON: The United States said on Monday it would resume sales of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia, ending a yearslong suspension triggered by the kingdom´s bloody operations in Yemen.

“Saudi Arabia has remained a close strategic partner of the United States, and we look forward to enhancing that partnership,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.

President Joe Biden took office in 2021 pledging a new approach to Saudi Arabia that emphasizes human rights and immediately announced that the administration would only send “defensive” weaponry to the longtime US partner.

The step came after thousands of civilians were estimated to be killed in Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen, including children, in a campaign against Iranian-backed Huthi rebels who have taken over much of the country.

But geopolitical considerations have changed markedly since then. The United Nations, with US support, brokered a truce in early 2022 that has largely held. Since the truce, “there has not been a single Saudi airstrike into Yemen and cross-border fire from Yemen into Saudi Arabia has largely stopped,” Patel said. “The Saudis since that time have met their end of the deal, and we are prepared to meet ours,” Patel said.