The US has announced that it will end support for Saudi-led offensive operations in Yemen, citing the role that the bombing played in creating the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The announcement was made by Joe Biden during a visit to the State Department, limiting the two-week whip of dramatic foreign policy changes since his inauguration on January 20th.
“This war must end,” Biden said. “And to emphasize our commitment, we end all US support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales.”
The removal of Washington from Riyadh is one of the most striking reversals of Donald Trump’s agenda, but it also marks a break with the policies pursued by Barack Obama, who supported the Saudi offensive in Yemen, although he later tried has to restrictions on air warfare.
A two-way majority in Congress previously voted to halt support for the Saudi campaign, citing the civilian death toll and the assassination of Saudi security agent Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist, in 2018 But Trump used his veto to block the move, and his supporters could not get the two-thirds vote in Congress to replace the veto.
The US will also freeze arms sales to Saudi Arabia, calling on a special envoy for Yemen to put more pressure on Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and the Houthi forces fighting them to conclude a lasting peace agreement.
“We spoke to senior officials in the UAE and senior officials in Saudi Arabia,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said before the speech. “We follow a policy of no surprises regarding these types of actions.”
Trump and his foreign minister, Mike Pompeo, have treated Saudi Arabia and its crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, as a key ally in their campaign to paralyze Iran through sanctions. To that end, Pompeo used emergency powers to bypass Congress to allow arms supplies to flow to the Gulf.
Pompeo’s successor, Tony Blinken, on the other hand, spoke bluntly about Saudi debt in the Yemen war. He has made more than 25 introductory calls to peers around the world so far, and the Saudi foreign minister has not been one of them. Biden’s director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, has vowed to produce a declassified report on Khashoggi’s assassination, which is expected to incriminate the Saudi crown prince.
The US decision, if fully implemented, will have an impact on the UK arms industry, as some UK products – such as the Paveway bomb widely used by Saudi Arabia – have been linked to US arms contracts. Arms manufacturer Raytheon has already removed some orders from his books, according to evidence provided to the British Arms Control Committee this week.
A spokesman for Campaign Against the Arms Trade described the move as a “long-term step” to end the catastrophic and brutal war in Yemen.
“Once the US has ended this support, it is the British Government’s right to follow suit or face international isolation. The UK will continue to wage a war that seeks to end its closest ally, an untenable and shameful position. The UK must now end arms sales and all military support and services to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. ”
Although the United Kingdom is not formally part of the Saudi coalition in Yemen, it does provide technical assistance to the Saudi Air Force, which according to the Ministry of Defense is designed to meet Saudi Arabia’s target of humanitarian law standards. .
Biden’s move, which follows a similar decision by Italy, will increase pressure on the UK to halt sales. Anna Stavrianakis, professor of international relations at the University of Sussex, said: ‘The UK is now taking even further risks with EU member states and possibly with the US, which makes the UK look very isolated. For a country that is heavily invested in leading the way in the rule of law and multilateral arrangements, I think it is a very dangerous position for the British Government to enter on its own. ”
But the UK will be very reluctant to follow the lead of the US, as the UK has licensed at least £ 5.4 billion worth of fighter jets, mainly typhoons and missiles, since the air campaign in 2015. These costs include maintenance as well as funds provided, out. to the British government in return for providing technical target advice to the Saudi air force.
The Biden government has also said it intends to re-enter the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, something Riyadh unhappily opposed. However, Biden officials have indicated that re-entry could be slow and complicated, as the new government has insisted that Iran comply with the agreement again before lifting US sanctions. Iran has indicated that it will adopt a step-by-step approach in which both parties will return to the agreement.
Biden’s first speech on foreign affairs was delivered in the State Department in a gesture of appreciation for American diplomats who are often portrayed by Donald Trump as a hostile ‘deep state’.
America is back. Diplomacy is back. You are at the center of everything I plan to do. You are at the heart of it, ”Biden told U.S. diplomats and civil servants. “And in our administration you will be trusted and able to do your job.”
Biden’s speech is expected to highlight multilateralism and the importance of the US example on the world stage, and it is expected that the president will promise a significant increase in the number of refugees the country will accept after the Trump administration the intake to a few thousand. Biden has already issued an executive order lifting the immigration ban on Muslim Muslim countries.
The first weeks of the Biden government were also marked by a rapid return to multilateralism. The US rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization. The day before Biden’s speech on foreign policy, Blinken signed a five-year extension to the New Start arms control agreement with Russia, two days before it would expire.
The previous government was largely hostile to the treaty and set a variety of conditions for its enlargement, such as the inclusion of China, or a broader freeze on the number of heads of states that Moscow was unwilling to accept.
Pompeo mocks the commitment of diplomats to treaties “for their own sake”. In its signature statement, Blinken emphasizes the value of New Start in ensuring stability and transparency while striving for a new, more ambitious agreement.