President Joe Biden agreed to lift limits on the sale of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia, reversing a policy imposed early in his term as he looks to boost ties with a key partner and counter Iran.
Biden had ordered the pause on the sale of precision-guided munitions and other weapons to pressure Riyadh to wind down its war against Houthi rebels in Yemen. The Saudis met their end of the bargain, according to a senior US official who asked not to be identified discussing a decision that hasn’t been publicly announced.
US priorities in the region have also been upended since Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and the Iran-backed Houthis roiled the shipping world with attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea. Tensions spiked even more after the recent assassination of a top Hamas leader in Tehran, and officials say Iran may strike Israel at any time.
Friday’s decision was first reported by Reuters.
There was no word yet on what weapons might now go ahead. But the previous pause included a hold on issuing a formal commercial license to RTX Corp., previously known as Raytheon, to sell Saudi Arabia 7,500 precision-guided, air-to-ground munitions valued at $478 million.
The decision removes the final vestiges of a policy Biden imposed to downgrade ties with Saudi Arabia and its crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, after he came to office, in part to protest the the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Saudi Arabia is now deemed too important to US goals to end the Israel-Hamas war and in the growing conflict with Iran and its proxies. The US has also been trying to pull together a bigger strategic pact that would offer the kingdom security guarantees and lay out a possible pathway to diplomatic ties with Israel.
The official said Saudi weapons sales would be returned to “regular order” whereby Congress is notified and consulted.
Saudi Arabia previously fought the Houthis for seven years from 2015 in a conflict that devastated Yemen, leaving an estimated 370,000 people dead from fighting and famine.
Officials had signaled for months that Friday’s move was in the works. In June, a top Senate Democrat said lawmakers were reviewing limits on US weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, partly at the White House’s request.