‘US-Saudi arms deal shows Biden not committed to peace’

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi has denounced the United States over approving a 650-million-dollar sale of air-to-air missiles to Saudi Arabia.

He stated that the major weapons deal with the Persian Gulf kingdom shows that the administration of President Joe Biden is not committed at all to Yemen peace, and in contrast supports the Saudi war on the impoverished Arab country.

He stressed in a post published on his Twitter page that the deal clearly shows Washington’s lack of seriousness and credibility to stop the ongoing devastating onslaught against Yemen, and will adversely prolong starvation and suffering of the Yemeni nation.

In a statement on Thursday, the Pentagon said the US State Department had approved the sale of air-to-air missiles to Riyadh.

It added that Massachusetts-based firm Raytheon would be the “principal contractor” for the sale of AIM-120C-7/C-8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) and related equipment.

The sale comes months after Biden claimed he would end US support for Saudi Arabia’s “offensive operations” in Yemen, including “relevant arms sales.”

Saudi Arabia, backed by the US and regional allies, launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi government back to power and crushing Ansarullah.

The war has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead, and displaced millions more. It has also destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure and spread famine and infectious diseases.

Yemeni armed forces and the Popular Committees have grown steadily in strength against the Saudi-led invaders, and left Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the country.