The US is preparing to lift the ban on the sale of assault weapons to Saudi Arabia

The Biden administration is preparing to ease restrictions on some arms sales to Saudi Arabia, U.S. officials said Thursday, crediting the kingdom’s peace talks with a militia in Yemen for hastening an easing of restrictions.

President Biden imposed the ban two years ago over concerns that U.S. weapons were being used against civilians in Yemen, where hundreds of thousands of people have been killed by airstrikes, fighting, disease and starvation as a Saudi-led military coalition wages war against an Iran-backed militia called the Houthis.

The expected easing of borders – which blocked the sale of major offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia – comes as the kingdom tries to finalize a US-backed peace deal with the Houthis.

A White House National Security Council representative declined to comment.

U.S. officials did not say when the easing of the sales ban might occur. And such a move could be reversed if Mr. Biden decides that it is not in the U.S. interest to allow the offensive weapons to flow to Saudi Arabia, which is by far the largest buyer of American weapons.

Just south of Saudi Arabia, Yemen’s Houthi militia has launched a fiery attack that has disrupted global trade, launching missiles and drones at commercial ships in the Red Sea. The group has framed the attacks as a campaign to force Israel to end its siege of Gaza and prompted the world’s largest shipping companies to divert ships away from Yemen, which is next to a major maritime chokepoint.

Saudi Arabia – after eight years of waging a brutal war in Yemen – has shown no interest in re-engaging in conflict with the Houthis, especially as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, tries to defuse regional tensions to reduce and focus on the kingdom’s economy.

Saudi Arabia and the Houthis are working on a peace deal that would formalize a ceasefire in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a coalition partner in the war, had carried out airstrikes using American-made ammunition and American weapons. military aid This resulted in massive civilian deaths and led to international condemnation.

A UN investigation into whether the two countries may have committed war crimes found that coalition forces, among other things, tortured prisoners and used child soldiers.

In recent weeks, Saudi officials have pressured U.S. lawmakers and presidential aides to relax the ban on sales of assault weapons, according to U.S. and Saudi officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential conversations. Their rationale, both groups of officials said: that Saudi Arabia must protect its southern border with Yemen in case of future clashes. Moreover, the kingdom has argued that it must be prepared to deal with escalating tensions in its region, the officials added, as the war between Israel and Gaza rages.

Mr. Biden’s planned policy shift is likely to face opposition from some lawmakers. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee imposed his own block on the arms sale to Saudi Arabia in October 2022, after the country – along with Russia and other oil-producing countries – agreed to reduce their oil production. The Saudi move roiled the White House ahead of the midterm elections and raised concerns about the country’s relationship with Russia as it wages war on Ukraine.

Previously, committee senators had tried to block arms sales because of civilian casualties in Yemen.

“I would oppose any release of advanced weapons as some sort of separate, one-time deal,” Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, who serves on the Armed Services Committee, said in an interview Thursday. “I understand the needs and challenges that have arisen in the aftermath of October 7,” he added, “but I think there needs to be a broader context and framework.”

Other lawmakers have consistently expressed reservations, including Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, and ruthless critic of the war in Yemen recently tried to block the sale of intelligence and communications technologies to Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia’s requests come as threats from militias increase. Last month the Houthis hijacked a commercial ship from Britain traveling in the Red Sea. This month is one The Houthi missile hit a Norwegian tanker, starting a fire. The Houthis have interpreted the attacks – which have led to many ships avoiding the Red Sea and instead taking a much longer route along the coast of Africa – as a pressure campaign to force Israel to end the war.

Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria fired rockets dozens of times this fall at bases housing U.S. troops.

And Hezbollah, a militant group based in Lebanon, has violently clashed with Israeli forces across their shared border in northern Israel. Hezbollah is an Iranian-backed ally of Hamas, the terrorist group that Israeli authorities say killed about 1,200 people in Israel and captured more than 200 in October. Since then, Israeli counterattacks have resulted in the deaths of nearly 20,000 Gazans, according to health ministry officials in the territory.

Early in his administration, Mr. Biden, who once called Saudi Arabia a “pariah” nation, raised concerns about the kingdom’s human rights record.

Shortly after his inauguration in 2021, the State Department halted sales of offensive weapons and pledged to review military deals struck under President Donald J. Trump to ensure they were consistent with the goals of the Mr. Biden’s foreign policy. Among the deals held up by the ban was a planned $478 million sale of precision munitions.

Mr. Biden also raised concerns about the death and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi columnist for The Washington Post, by Saudi agents in 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey. US intelligence concluded that Prince Mohammed had approved a plan to kill Mr Khashoggi, who was a US resident. Prince Mohammed has denied the accusation.

Saudi Arabia has been seeking a freer flow of American weapons for years. Most of its arsenal is American-made, but the kingdom has diversified its purchases — and sought to develop a domestic defense industry — as it hedges against concerns about a decline in American interest and influence in the region.

And top Biden administration officials have been eager to curry favor with the kingdom over the past year as they tried to reach a deal in which Saudi Arabia would establish diplomatic ties with Israel — discussions that appear to be on hold because of the Gaza war put.