US lifts ban on offensive weapons sales to Saudi Arabia

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The US government has decided to lift the ban on the sale of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia. TASS, according to Reuters, said the move ended a three-year pressure policy on the country aimed at ending the war in Yemen.

The U.S. State Department confirmed the decision on Friday, saying it was lifting a suspension on the transfer of certain air-to-ground munitions to Saudi Arabia.

Sources told Reuters earlier that the U.S. government had notified Congress this week that arms sales could resume as early as next week. “The Saudis have fulfilled their part of the agreement and we are ready to fulfill our part,” said an unnamed government official.

Under U.S. law, major international arms sales agreements must be reviewed by U.S. lawmakers before they can be finalized. In recent years, both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have opposed providing offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia, citing the consequences of Saudi Arabia’s military operations in Yemen on civilians or human rights issues.

But those attitudes have softened since Hamas attacked Israel last October and Riyadh made changes to its operations in Yemen, plunging the Middle East into chaos, Reuters reported.

The war in Yemen is considered one of the proxy wars between Iran and Saudi Arabia. In 2014, Yemen’s Houthi rebels overthrew the Riyadh-backed Sanaa government, and the Saudi-led military coalition launched an operation against them in 2015. The conflict has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, and 80% of Yemen’s population relies on humanitarian aid.