The US approves a sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia worth about 1,745 million euros

The United States Department of State has approved a sale of weapons worth nearly 2 billion dollars (about 1,745 million euros) in the midst of the conflict unleashed in the Middle East by the offensive launched in February by American and Israeli forces against Iran, with new exchanges of attacks in recent days despite the ceasefire agreed in April and the memorandum of understanding signed in June.

Thus, it stated in a statement that it has approved a possible military sale to Saudi Arabia that involves “advanced precision weapons systems and related equipment”, with an estimated value of 1.96 billion dollars (approximately 1.71 billion euros).

The department has specified that Riyadh “has ordered to purchase up to 10,000 air-to-air sections and another 10,000 air-to-ground sections of the APKWS-II advanced precision weapons systems”, including launchers, warheads, rocket motors, support equipment, launch and deployment equipment, spare parts and technical documentation, as well as training its personnel for their use.

“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of an important non-NATO ally that constitutes a force for political stability and economic progress in the (Persian) Gulf region,” he said in his statement.

In this sense, he explained that this sale “will improve Saudi Arabia’s ability to deter current and future threats, strengthening its national defense and improving interoperability with US forces and other regional and NATO forces.”

“Likewise, it will increase Saudi Arabia’s fleet of operational aircraft and strengthen its air-to-air and air-to-ground self-defense capacity,” he said, while emphasizing that the Saudi authorities “will not have difficulties integrating this equipment and services into their Armed Forces.”

On the other hand, he stressed that this proposed sale “will not affect the essential basic balance” in the Middle East and that “there will be no adverse impact on the defense capacity of the United States as a result of the sale”, which will have BAE Systems, based in New Hampshire, as its main contractor.

The statement was published after a spokesperson for the department expressed in statements to Europa Press Washington’s “firm support” for Saudi Arabia in the face of “Iranian aggression”, following the latest attacks launched by the Houthi rebels from Yemen, who accused Riyadh of launching an attack against the airport of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, despite the fact that it was the forces of the internationally recognized government that claimed responsibility.

The United Nations expressed its “concern” on Monday about the “risk of a broader escalation” after the Houthis denounced a bombing allegedly carried out by the Saudi Arabian Army against the Sanaa airport, without reporting any casualties, and stressed that this fact represents “a declaration of war” and the end of efforts to reach a peace agreement.

Although the internationally recognized government – which is based in the city of Aden (southern) and has the support of the military coalition led by Riyadh – claimed responsibility for the attack and stated that the objective was “to prevent an Iranian plane from landing in Yemeni territory”, the Houthis responded by attacking the Saudi airport of Abha.

The rise in tensions took place after the Yemeni authorities and the Houthis accused each other of delaying an exchange of more than 1,700 prisoners, scheduled for Saturday, following the agreement reached after mediation by the United Nations, in what was going to be the largest process of releases since the outbreak of the war in 2015, which has plunged the country into one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world.