CNN —The United States will resume sales of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia, the State Department said Monday, ending a suspension put in place at the beginning of the Biden administration over concerns about human rights violations in the war in Yemen.
“As part of this policy, our administration froze the sale of certain classes of offensive weapons, while also maintaining sales of systems to the kingdom required to defend itself from attack,” State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said at a news briefing.
At the outset of President Joe Biden’s tenure, the administration suspended offensive weapons sales to Riyadh amid concerns about the toll of the Saud-led war against the Houthis in Yemen, which killed thousands of civilians.
Patel denied that the lifting of the suspension was linked to the administration’s ambitious plan for post-war Gaza and Israel-Saudi normalization.
He acknowledged, however, that “Saudi Arabia has remained a close strategic partner of the United States, and we look forward to enhancing that partnership.”
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