BIDEN ADMIN PAUSES MILITARY SALES TO UAE, SAUDI ARABIA

Thu 28 January 2021:

The United States is reviewing weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorised by former President Donald Trump, a move that Secretary of State Antony Blinken said was “typical” of a new administration.

In his first press briefing on Wednesday, Blinken said the review aims “to make sure that what is being considered is something that advances our strategic objectives and advances our foreign policy”.

Secretary of State Tony Blinken confirmed that pending arms sales are under review, as is typical at the start of a new administration, “to make sure that what is being considered is something that advances our strategic objectives, and advances our foreign policy.”

He did not reference any specific sales or countries in his remarks, which were made at his first State Department news conference as top US diplomat.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on Wednesday that the Biden administration has imposed a temporary freeze on billions of dollars in weapons sales to the two countries, including the sale of precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia and F-35 fighters to the UAE.

The move comes one week after Biden, who has promised to “reassess” Washington’s relationship with Riyadh, was inaugurated. Since taking office, he has signed a string of executive actions to review or reverse some of Trump’s key policies.

On Tuesday, a group of Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to Blinken calling for scrutiny and overhaul of the US-Saudi relationship, and among other requests, urged him to freeze the delivery of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia.

At the end of last year, the Trump administration pushed through a number of high-dollar arms sales to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi tied to the Abraham Accords, which were agreements to normalize relations with Israel.

The former administration also issued an emergency declaration in 2019 in order to expedite arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE in circumvention of congressional concerns.

Lawmakers opposed the sale due to Saudi Arabia and the UAE’s involvement in the bloody conflict in Yemen that has killed thousands of civilians, as well as the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi officials. They did not see any emergency that justified speeding up the transfer.

In May 2019, the former US president declared a national emergency over tensions with Iran to sidestep objections from Congress about the sale of $8bn worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Jordan.

The Trump administration also authorised $290m worth of small munition sales to Saudi Arabia at the end of December of last year.

The Trump administration notified Congress in November that it had approved the sale of more than $23bn in advanced weapons systems, including F-35 fighter jets and armed drones, to the UAE.

That announcement came shortly after the Emirati government agreed to normalise relations with Israel in a US-brokered deal.

“This is in recognition of our deepening relationship and the UAE’s need for advanced defense capabilities to deter and defend itself against heightened threats from Iran,” then-US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement at the time.

Rights groups denounced the sale, saying it could fuel regional conflict, notably in Libya and in Yemen, where the UAE and Saudi Arabia have waged a devastating war against the country’s Houthi rebels.

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