Senate Democrats urge Biden to pressure Saudi Arabia over Yemen blockade tactics

The Senate letter called on President Joe Biden to use diplomatic and economic leverage to compel the Saudi-led coalition to lift restrictions on imports into Yemen.
Yemeni tribesmen attend a rally denouncing the United States and the outgoing Trump administration's decision to apply the "terrorist" designation to the Iran-backed movement, in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 4, 2021.
Yemeni tribesmen attend a rally denouncing the United States and the outgoing Trump administration's decision to apply the "terrorist" designation to the Iran-backed movement, in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 4, 2021. - Mohammed Huwais/AFP via Getty Images
Elizabeth Hagedorn
Elizabeth Hagedorn
@ElizHagedorn

A group of Senate Democrats say the Biden administration should use the leverage that military cooperation and arms sales provide to pressure Saudi Arabia into ending its blockade tactics in war-torn Yemen. 

“The United States has diplomatic and economic leverage to compel Saudi Arabia to end its callous blockade of Yemen and we must use it before more lives are needlessly lost,” 16 US senators wrote to President Joe Biden in a letter provided to Al-Monitor. 

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