Trump administration pushes last-minute arms deals to Middle East
The move to go forward with a proposed $290 million sale of precision-guided bombs for Saudi Arabia comes just weeks before the Biden administration arrives.
The Trump administration approved major arms sales to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Kuwait on Tuesday in a last-minute push before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
The US State Department approved a proposed $290 million sale of 3,000 precision-guided GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. The Royal Saudi Air Force has relied on such US-made munitions for its air campaign over Yemen. The kingdom has drawn allegations of war crimes for repeatedly bombing civilian targets.
President-elect Biden has promised to end US support for the Saudi-led coalition’s war against Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Congress was formally notified of the sale proposal on Tuesday, a week after Bloomberg reported that the Trump administration told lawmakers it was moving ahead on plans to grant a license allowing Raytheon to sell 7,500 precision-guided bombs directly to Saudi Arabia.
