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On May 20, 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud signed a series of letters of intent for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to purchase arms from the United States totaling US$110 billion immediately, [1] and $350 billion over 10 years. [2] [3] The intended purchases include tanks, combat ships, missile defense systems, as well as radar, communications and cybersecurity technology. The transfer was widely seen as a counterbalance against the influence of Iran in the region [4] [5] and a "significant" and "historic" expansion of United States relations with Saudi Arabia. [6] [7] [8] [2] [9]
Saudi Arabia is a key U.S. ally in the Middle East. [10] [11] Saudi Arabia's security forces have relied on U.S. equipment, training, and service support for decades, officially as a counterbalance to Iranian military influence in the region, and to help protect the Kingdom from extremist attacks. Between 2011 and 2015, Saudi Arabia was the destination for nearly 10% of all U.S. arms exports. [12] In 2016, the Obama administration proposed a series of arms deals worth $115 billion, including warships, helicopters, and maintenance. [13] However, some parts of this deal were blocked by the administration in December 2016 after Saudi Arabia's airstrikes and targeting procedures in neighboring Yemen drew controversy. [14] After Saudi warplanes targeted a funeral in Yemen's capital Sanaa, killing more than 140 people, the Obama administration announced its intention to review U.S. military assistance to Saudi Arabia. [15]
The 2017 deal was partially created with the help of Jared Kushner, son-in-law of and senior advisor to President Trump; Kushner had cultivated relationships with Saudi royalty during the transition and personally contacted Lockheed Martin during the deal-making process. [16] [17]
The signing occurred at the Riyadh Summit, and was part of Trump's 2017 series of visits to the Vatican, Saudi Arabia and Israel. It also was related to a $20 billion investment in mostly American infrastructure. [18]
Saudi Arabia signed billions of dollars of deals with U.S. companies in the arms industry and petroleum industry, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, General Electric, Exxon Mobil, Halliburton, Honeywell, McDermott International, Jacobs Engineering Group, National Oilwell Varco, Nabors Industries, Weatherford International, Schlumberger and Dow Chemical. [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [ excessive citations ]
Saudi Arabia joined The Blackstone Group in May 2017 in a $40 billion fund to invest in stateside infrastructure projects. [26]
The White House hailed the deal as a "significant expansion" of the two nations' "security relationships". [27] The United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson described the deal as "historic" and said that it would counter Iran, and urged them to halt support of destabilizing forces in the Middle East, [28] [29] although he hinted the United States would be open to discussions. [30]
In December 2018, the Senators in the US voted to end American military assistance for Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen. The 56-to-41 vote came after the controversial killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and thousands of civilian casualties in Yemen. Senator Bernie Sanders, who co-wrote the resolution, said it is the first time Congress had used the law to make clear "that the constitutional responsibility for making war rests with the United States Congress, not the White House. Today, we tell the despotic regime in Saudi Arabia that we will not be part of their military adventurism." [31]
Trump vetoed a resolution on April 16, 2019 that would have ended American support of Saudi Arabia's war with Yemen. [32] [33]
On July 24, 2019, Trump vetoed three bills that were meant to stop billions of dollars of arms to Saudi Arabia. [34] [35] [36]
On September 24, 2020, the Democratic Party introduced a legislation to control the United States foreign arms sales. The legislation was introduced while Trump administration was in discussions, led by Jared Kushner, about the possible sale of F-35s to the UAE. In the past the Trump administration has sold billions of dollars worth of weapons to Gulf allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, during their active involvement in the Yemen civil war. [37]
On November 18, 2020, three US senators namely, Democratic Senators Bob Menendez and Chris Murphy and Republican Senator Rand Paul announced four separate resolutions in disagreement of President Donald Trump's plan to sell more than $23 billion worth of Reaper drones, F-35 fighter aircraft and air-to-air missiles and other munitions to the UAE. [38]
Tulsi Gabbard—a Democratic Representative from Hawaii—criticized the move, saying that "Saudi Arabia is a country with a devastating record of human rights violations at home and abroad and has a long history of providing support to terrorist organizations that threaten the American people". [39] [40] Rand Paul introduced a bill to try to block the plan calling it a "travesty". [41] [42] [43]
US defense stocks reached all-time highs after the announcement. [44] [24] [45]
Senator John McCain told Al Jazeera: "The Saudis are in a war in Yemen and they need weapons. You want to win, you need weapons. We are in a war." [46] According to Senator Chris Murphy, "That $110 billion is a mix of old sales and future prospective sales that have not been announced or signed." [46]
Iran – Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called Saudi Arabia a "cow being milked" by the United States. [47]
Israel – Yuval Steinitz, Minister of National Infrastructures, Energy, and Water Resources, expressed "concern". [48] [49]
Saudi Arabia – The Government of Saudi Arabia praised the deal, and it stated that it is a turning point in Saudi–American relations. [50]
Yemen – More than 10,000 Yemeni people protested the deal in Sana'a. Houthis fired a ballistic missile toward the Saudi capital Riyadh. [51] [52]
On June 5, 2017, Bruce Reidel of the Brookings Institution wrote that the arms deal consisted of "a bunch of letters of interest or intent, but not contracts." [53] On June 13, the United States Senate narrowly rejected an effort to block part of deal and approved the sale of $500 million worth of American weapons. The approval of the deal was opposed by various lawmakers, including GOP Senators Mike Lee, Rand Paul, Todd Young and Dean Heller, along with most Democratic Senators who voted to advance the measure in order to block the sale, citing the human rights violations by Saudi Arabia in the Yemeni Civil War and human rights violations at home. [54] [55] Among the senators who voted against moving the measure to block the sale were Democrats Joe Donnelly, Claire McCaskill, Bill Nelson, Joe Manchin and Mark Warner along with Republicans including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Bob Corker and John McCain. [56]
In August 2018, a laser-guided Mark 82 bomb sold by the U.S. and built by Lockheed Martin was used in the Saudi-led coalition airstrike on a school bus in Yemen, which killed 51 people, including 40 children. [57] Following the civilian casualties in Yemen by the airstrikes conducted by Saudi Arabia, the U.S. suggested putting gun cameras on Saudi and Emirati warplanes to see how strikes were being conducted, but the proposal was rejected by both the Saudis and the UAE. U.S. military officials posted at the coalition war room in Riyadh brought to notice that inexperienced Saudi pilots were flying the warplanes at high altitude to avoid enemy fire, but in turn were putting civilians in danger due to inaccurate bombings. [58]
Through October 2018, the Saudi government had purchased $14.5 billion of arms. [59]
During 2018, Trump made several assertions of how many American jobs the deal would create, including as many as 1,000,000. [60]
In August of 2022 Biden's State Department approved $3 billion sale of Patriot missiles to Saudi Arabia and $2.2 billion to the United Arab Emirates despite pledging in 2019 campaign to make Saudi Arabia a pariah. [61]
In August 2024, the Biden administration partially lifted the three-year ban on US arms sales to Saudi Arabia. [62]
The Saudi Arabian Armed Forces (SAAF), also known as the Royal Saudi Armed Forces, is part of the military forces of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It consists of the Royal Saudi Army, the Royal Saudi Navy, the Royal Saudi Air Force, the Royal Saudi Air Defense, and the Royal Saudi Strategic Missile Force. The King of Saudi Arabia is the commander-in-chief of all the military forces and forms military policy with the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Interior. The five Armed Forces are among eight military forces of Saudi Arabia, with the others including the Royal Saudi National Guard, the Royal Saudi Guard Regiment and the Royal Saudi Border Guards.
The Royal Bahraini Air Force is the aerial warfare branch of the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF). Originally formed as the BDF Air Wing in 1976, it became an independent service branch in 1987. The RBAF was involved in combat operations during the Gulf War and the Saudi-led intervention in the Yemeni civil war.
The sale of AWACS surveillance planes to Saudi Arabia by the United States administration of President Ronald Reagan was a controversial part of what was then the largest foreign arms sale in US history. The sale saw objections from a majority of Americans, prominent US Senators, the State of Israel and the Israel lobby.
Bilateral relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States began in 1933 when full diplomatic relations were established. These relations were formalized under the 1951 Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement. Despite the differences between the two countries—an Islamic absolute monarchy versus a secular constitutional republic—the two countries have been allies ever since. The U.S. provides military protection to the Kingdom in exchange for a reliable oil supply, pricing of oil in U.S. dollars, and support for American foreign policy.
The United Arab Emirates has quite a close and friendly relationship with the US, being described as the United States' best counter-terrorism ally in the Gulf by Richard A. Clarke, the U.S. national security advisor and counter-terrorism expert. In terms of defense, the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces has been nicknamed "Little Sparta" by United States Armed Forces generals and former U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis for its active role against extremists in the Middle East. The United Arab Emirates also hosts the only United States border preclearance in the Middle East. Both countries are members of the I2U2 Group, which was established in 2021.
Russia–Saudi Arabia relations are the bilateral relations between the Russian Federation and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The two countries are referred to as the two petroleum superpowers and account for about a quarter of the world's crude oil production between them.
The Barack Obama administration's involvement in the Middle East was greatly varied between the region's various countries. Some nations, such as Libya and Syria, were the subject of offensive action at the hands of the Obama administration, while nations such as Bahrain and Saudi Arabia received arms deliveries. Notable achievements of the administration include inhibiting the Iranian nuclear program, while his handling of certain situations, such as the Syrian civil war, were highly criticized.
Foreign Military Sales (FMS) is a security assistance program of the United States government to facilitate the purchase of U.S. arms, defense equipment, design and construction services, and military training to foreign governments. FMS is a government-to-government program where the United States Department of Defense through the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) acquires defense articles on behalf of the foreign governments, protecting them from contract risks in negotiating with the arms industry and providing the contract benefits and protections that apply to U.S. military acquisitions. The FMS program was established through the 1976 Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and is overseen by the United States Department of State and the United States Congress through the annual Foreign Operations Appropriations Acts and National Defense Authorization Acts.
Yemeni peace process refers to the proposals and negotiations to pacify the Yemeni crisis by arranging a power transfer scheme within the country and later cease-fire attempts within the raging civil war. While initially unsuccessful, the reconciliation efforts resulted with presidential elections, held in Yemen in February 2012. The violence in Yemen, however, continued during the elections and after, culminating in Houthi seizure of power and the ensuing civil war.
Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, commonly known by his initials as MBS or MbS, is the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, formally serving as Crown Prince and Prime Minister. He is the heir apparent to the Saudi throne, the seventh son of King Salman of Saudi Arabia, and the grandson of the nation's founder, King Abdulaziz.
The Yemeni civil war is an ongoing multilateral civil war that began in late 2014 mainly between the Rashad al-Alimi-led Presidential Leadership Council and the Mahdi al-Mashat-led Supreme Political Council, along with their supporters and allies. Both claim to constitute the official government of Yemen.
On 26 March 2015, Saudi Arabia, leading a coalition of nine countries from West Asia and North Africa, launched a military intervention in Yemen at the request of Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who had been ousted from the capital, Sanaa, in September 2014 by Houthi insurgents during the Yemeni Civil War. Efforts by the United Nations to facilitate a power sharing arrangement under a new transitional government collapsed, leading to escalating conflict between government forces, Houthi rebels, and other armed groups, which culminated in Hadi fleeing to Saudi Arabia shortly before it began military operations in the country.
Iran and Saudi Arabia are engaged in an ongoing struggle for influence in the Middle East and other regions of the Muslim world. The two countries have provided varying degrees of support to opposing sides in nearby conflicts, including the civil wars in Syria and Yemen; and disputes in Bahrain, Lebanon, Qatar, and Iraq. The struggle also extends to disputes or broader competition in other countries globally including in West, North and East Africa, South, Central, Southeast Asia, the Balkans, and the Caucasus.
The 2017 Riyadh summit was a series of three summits held on 20–21 May 2017 on the occasion of the visit of United States President Donald Trump to Saudi Arabia, his first trip overseas. The summit included one bilateral meeting, between the United States and Saudi Arabia, and two multilateral meetings, one between the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the other with Arab and Muslim countries. Leaders and representatives of 54 Arab and Muslim countries, all members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the United States took part. Iran and Turkey boycotted the summit, and Syria was not invited.
The blockade of Yemen refers to a sea, land and air blockade on Yemen which started with the positioning of Saudi Arabian warships in Yemeni waters in 2015 with the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen. In November 2017, after a Houthi missile heading towards King Khalid International Airport was intercepted, the Saudi-led military coalition stated it would close all sea land and air ports to Yemen, but shortly began reopening them after criticism from the United Nations and over 20 aid groups and some humanitarian supplies were allowed into the country. In March 2021, Saudi Arabia denied the blockade continued, however, UN authorized ships continued to be delayed by Saudi warships.
Saudi Arabia has not officially maintained and possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD). In 1972 Saudi Arabia signed and approved the convention on the prohibition of the development, production and stockpiling of biological (bacteriological) and toxin weapons. Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia has made steps towards a nuclear program and according to some observations, they can be used to develop nuclear weapons. According to some reports, Riyadh has an alleged deal with Pakistan regarding nuclear weapons projects.
During the Yemeni civil war, Saudi Arabia led an Arab coalition of nine nations from the Middle East and parts of Africa in response to calls from the internationally recognized pro-Saudi president of Yemen Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi for military support after he was ousted by the Houthi movement due to economic and political grievances, and fled to Saudi Arabia.
The Abraham Accords are bilateral agreements on Arab–Israeli normalization signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and Bahrain on September 15, 2020. Mediated by the United States, the announcement of August 13, 2020, concerned Israel and the Emirates before the subsequent announcement of an agreement between Israel and Bahrain on September 11, 2020. On September 15, 2020, the signing of the agreements was hosted by US president Trump on the Truman Balcony of the White House amid elaborate staging intended to evoke the signings of historic formal peace treaties in prior administrations.
The Saudi Arabian Military Forces (SAMF) is the umbrella term for all the military forces of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Although militarized in nature, each is independent of the other in that they fall under the control of different ministries and/or chain of command. They include: the Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Arabian National Guard, the Saudi Arabian Border Guard, the Saudi Arabian Royal Guard, the Special Operations Forces, and the Special Security Unit.
During the presidency of Barack Obama, the United States began providing Saudi Arabia with critical support to "sustain" the Saudi Arabian–led intervention in the Yemeni Civil War, later expanded during the presidency of Donald Trump. This support included logistical and intelligence aid. Trump vetoed a bipartisan bill in 2019 aimed at stopping U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. In 2021, Joe Biden vowed to halt U.S. support for the war, though U.S. arms sales to the coalition have continued.
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