State Department Approves $2.2 Billion in Arms Sales for Saudi Arabia, UAE

The Biden administration has approved a series of arms sales for Saudi Arabia and the UAE, worth a combined total of $2.2 billion.

The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said on October 11 that the State Department approved one potential sale to the UAE for GMLRS precision-guided rocket systems, ATACMS munitions, and related equipment worth an estimated $1.2 billion.

The DSCA announced three separate deals for Saudi Arabia, which come after reports that said President Biden was preparing to resume selling “offensive” weapons to the Kingdom. One deal is for air-to-air Sidewinder missiles worth an estimated $251.8 million.

Another deal is for thousands of air-to-ground Hellfire missiles, which will cost about $655 million. The final sale is for a series of different types of ammunition for artillery systems, tanks, and machine guns.

The US sees the Gulf Arab states as potential allies in an Israel-Iran war, but Saudi Arabia has distanced itself from the US’s defense of Israel, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman recently hosted Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Riyadh.

The Saudis have also wanted nothing to do with the US’s bombing campaign against the Houthis in Yemen, which began in January. From 2015 to 2022, the US-backed Saudi Arabia and the UAE in a brutal war in Yemen, but a ceasefire has held relatively well since April 2022, although US sanctions are preventing the implementation of a lasting peace deal.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE do not have a good track record with US weapons, as both countries used them to brutalize civilians in Yemen. US arms sold to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi during the war have also ended up in the hands of al-Qaeda.

Today, the UAE is fueling the brutal civil war in Sudan by covertly shipping weapons to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Saudi Arabia has also been accused this year of slaughtering African migrants at its border with Yemen.