US lifts ban on bombs sale to Saudi Arabia

President Joe Biden imposed the ban in 2022 amid fears that Saudi forces were using US-made munitions to kill civilians in Yemen.

The arms embargo had strained relations between the two countries and hindered Saudi Arabia’s military capabilities against Yemen’s Houthi movement, officially known as Ansarallah.

Riyadh and the Houthis have been at war since 2015, when a Saudi-led coalition of Arab states intervened in Yemen after the Houthis seized control of much of the country, including most of the major population centres.

The Yemeni movement continues to control the capital, Sanaa, and other important cities, operating an administration that remains largely unrecognised internationally.

The WSJ report said the munitions shipment will include 3,000 small diameter bombs and 7,500 Paveway IV bombs.

According to the WSJ, a conservative-leaning paper with close ties to the US military and political establishment, Washington is trying to curry favour with Saudi Arabia in an attempt to reassert its influence in the Middle East.

As Washington explores options for Gaza after Israel’s war on the Palestinian enclave is over, including assembling an international Arab-led force, American officials are eyeing Saudi Arabia’s cooperation. They also hope to reignite efforts to build official ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Saudi Arabia and Israel were on the brink of announcing formal relations until the Hamas-led attack on 7 October and Israel’s subsequent war on Gaza disrupted those plans.

As Israel has waged an onslaught on Gaza, which has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians, Riyadh has grown more critical and described Israel’s actions as “mass genocide” this week.

Saudi Arabia hopes that by normalising with Israel, it will get access to more US weaponry and the clearance to develop a civil nuclear programme.

Tensions between the US and Saudi Arabia peaked after Biden took office in 2021, promising to make Riyadh a “pariah” in large part due to the murder of Middle East Eye and Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

The CIA said that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman likely signed off on the killing, an accusation he denies.

The ongoing war in Gaza has also brought the Houthis into direct conflict with the US, with the Yemeni movement targeting vessels in the Red Sea linked to Israel in solidarity with Hamas and the Palestinians under Israeli bombardment.

In response, the US and the UK have launched several air strikes on Houthi military sites.