US lifts embargo on arms sales to Saudi Arabia

Last Updated on August 10, 2024 9:09 am

US lifts embargo on heavy arms sales to Saudi Arabia The news agency Reuters published this information in a report on Friday (August 9) citing five sources related to the matter.

A senior official in the Biden administration claimed that the arms sales would be reinstated at the direction and advice of Congress as the terms of the agreement were met. Arms sales could start by next week.

Last month, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said his country wanted to normalize nuclear energy, security, defense cooperation and relations between Riyadh and Tel Aviv. For this, the United States and Saudi Arabia are very close to a series of agreements.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration is negotiating a defense deal with Riyadh and an agreement for civilian nuclear cooperation as part of a broader deal. Basically, the Biden administration hopes that it will act as a catalyst to normalize Saudi Arabia’s relations with Israel.

After being elected as the President of the United States in 2021, US President Joe Biden adopted a strong policy against Saudi Arabia. He was particularly unhappy about the loss of civilian lives in the Saudi military operation against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Apart from this, the US administration was against Saudi Arabia in 2018 around the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In that situation, the United States imposed restrictions on the sale of several types of heavy weapons to Saudi Arabia, the largest buyer of American weapons.