Washington
\nA group of US senators has opposed the Biden administration\u2019s first major arms sale to Saudi Arabia over Riyadh\u2019s role in the conflict in Yemen, three senators announced on Thursday.
\nA joint resolution of disapproval to block a proposed $650 million in US arms sales to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was introduced by Republicans Rand Paul and Mike Lee, as well as Bernie Sanders who caucuses with Democrats.
\nWhile many US lawmakers consider Saudi Arabia an important partner in the Middle East, they have criticized the country for its involvement in the war in Yemen, a conflict considered one of the world\u2019s worst humanitarian disasters.
\nThey have refused to approve many military sales for the kingdom without assurances US equipment would not be used to kill civilians.
\nActivists have said Saudi Arabia has lobbied heavily against extending a mandate of United Nation investigators who have documented possible war crimes in Yemen by both the Riyadh-led coalition and the Houthi movement.
\nThe package which was approved by the State Department would include 280 AIM-120C-7\/C-8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM), 596 LAU-128 Missile Rail Launchers (MRL) along with containers and support equipment, spare parts, US government and contractor engineering and technical support.
\nIn a statement Paul said, \u201cthis sale that could accelerate an arms race in the Middle East and jeopardize the security of our military technologies.\u201d
\n\u201cAs the Saudi government continues to wage its devastating war in Yemen and repress its own people, we should not be rewarding them with more arms sales,\u201d said Sanders in the joint statement.
\nRaytheon Technologies makes the missiles.
\nThe Biden administration has said it adopted a policy of selling only defensive weapons to the Gulf ally.
\nWhen the State Department approved the sale a spokesman said the sale \u201cis fully consistent with the administration\u2019s pledge to lead with diplomacy to end the conflict in Yemen.\u201d The air-to-air missiles ensure \u201cSaudi Arabia has the means to defend itself from Iranian-backed Houthi air attacks,\u201d he said.
\nState Department approval of a sale is not necessarily the indication of a signed contract.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington A group of US senators has opposed the Biden administration\u2019s first major arms sale to Saudi Arabia over Riyadh\u2019s role in the conflict in Yemen, three senators announced on Thursday. A joint resolution of disapproval to block a proposed $650 million in US arms sales to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was introduced by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[502,503,501,444],"class_list":{"0":"post-228608","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world","7":"tag-arms","8":"tag-joe-biden","9":"tag-saudi-arabia","10":"tag-us"},"yoast_head":"\n