US lifts ban on sale of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia

 

    A fighter jet of the Saudi security forces during a military exercise

The US is going to lift the embargo on the sale of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia. The US State Department said this on Friday.

A US State Department official said the ban on the sale of some air-to-ground munitions to Saudi Arabia is being lifted. These ammunitions will be handed over to the Saudis step by step in light of the conventional arms transfer policy.

Reuters was the first to report recently on the lifting of the US arms embargo on Saudi Arabia. Then the news was published about five sources.

The Biden administration told the US Congress about the arms sales to Saudi this week. According to a source, the arms sale may start from next week. The US administration has started official work on the sale on Friday afternoon.

In 2015, a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia launched an attack on neighboring Yemen. In this, the Saudi coalition used US weapons and ammunition. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed in this war with the Houthis. The US administration was under pressure.

In this situation, President Joe Biden came to power in 2021 and became strict about the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia. In between, the Saudis and the Houthis entered into a UN-brokered ceasefire agreement from March 2022. After that, Saudi Arabia did not attack Yemen. On the other hand, Houthi attacks in Saudi also decreased significantly.