The United States has announced the end of its support for Saudi-led offensive operations in Yemen, citing the role the bombing campaign played in creating the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The announcement was made by Joe Biden during a visit to the state department, crowning a lash of fifteen days of dramatic changes in foreign policy since his inauguration on January 20.
“This war has to end,” said Biden. “And to underscore our commitment, we are ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including sales of relevant weapons.”
Washington’s detachment from Riyadh is one of the most conspicuous reversals of Donald Trump’s agenda, but it also marks a break with the policies of Barack Obama, who had supported the Saudi offensive in Yemen, although he later sought to impose restrictions on his war aerial.
A bipartisan majority in Congress previously voted to cut support for the Saudi campaign, citing the number of civilians killed and the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist, by Saudi security agents, in 2018. But Trump used his veto to block the measure, and its supporters were unable to gather the two-thirds of the votes in Congress necessary to override the veto.
The United States will also freeze arms sales to Saudi Arabia and will appoint a special envoy to Yemen, to put further pressure on the Saudis, the Emirates and the Hutile forces they are fighting against, to make a lasting peace deal.
“We spoke with senior officials from the United Arab Emirates and senior officials from Saudi Arabia,” said national security adviser Jake Sullivan, before the speech. “We are following a policy of no surprises when it comes to this type of action.”
Trump and his secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, treated Saudi Arabia and its crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, as a great ally in his campaign to paralyze Iran through sanctions. To that end, Pompeo used emergency powers to bypass Congress and maintain the flow of arms supplies to the Gulf.
Pompeo’s successor, Tony Blinken, on the other hand, spoke bluntly about Saudi guilt in the Yemen war. He has already made more than 25 introductory calls to counterparts around the world, and Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister was not among them. Biden’s director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, has promised to produce a disqualified account of Khashoggi’s murder, which is expected to frame the Saudi prince.
The US decision, if fully implemented, will have a knock-on effect on the UK arms industry, as some UK products – such as the Paveway bomb widely used by Saudi Arabia – are linked to arms contracts with the US . Weapon maker Raytheon has already withdrawn some orders from its books, according to evidence provided to the British arms control committee this week.
A spokesman for the Campaign Against the Arms Trade described the measure as “a long-awaited step to end the catastrophic and brutal war in Yemen.
“With the US ending this support, the responsibility now lies firmly with the UK government to follow suit, or to face international isolation. For the UK, continuing to wage a war that its closest ally is trying to end would be an untenable and shameful position. The UK is expected to end arms sales and all military support and services to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates now. “
Although the United Kingdom is not formally part of the Saudi coalition in Yemen, it does provide technical assistance to the Saudi Air Force, which the Ministry of Defense says aims to help Saudi Arabian targets meet humanitarian law standards.
Biden’s move, which follows a similar decision by Italy, will increase pressure on the UK to suspend sales. Anna Stavrianakis, professor of international relations at the University of Sussex, said: “The UK now risks looking even more out of place with EU member states and potentially with the US, which makes the UK look very isolated. For a country that is very committed to being seen as being at the forefront of the rule of law and multilateral agreements, I think it is a very dangerous position for the UK government to enter. “
But the UK will be deeply reluctant to follow the US example, since the UK has licensed at least £ 5.4 billion in fighter jets, mostly typhoons and missiles, since the air campaign started in 2015. These costs exclude maintenance, as well as funds provided to the UK government in exchange for technical advice on targets to the Saudi Air Force.
The Biden government also declared its intention to re-enter the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, something Riyadh strongly opposed. However, Biden officials have indicated that re-entry could be slow and complicated, as the new government insisted that Iran re-enforce the agreement before the United States lift sanctions. Iran has signaled that it would accept a step-by-step sequential approach, whereby both sides would return to the agreement.
Biden’s first speech on foreign affairs was made at the State Department, in a gesture of appreciation for American diplomats who were often described as a hostile “deep state” by Donald Trump.
“America is back. Diplomacy is back. You are at the center of everything I plan to do. You are the heart of it, ”Biden told American diplomats and civil servants. “And in our administration, you will have the confidence and the power to do your job.”
Biden’s speech is expected to emphasize multilateralism and the importance of the US setting an example on the world stage, and to do so, the president was expected to promise a significant increase in the number of refugees the country will accept after the Trump administration has reduced the intake to a few thousand. Biden has already issued an executive order, lifting Trump’s immigration ban in Muslim-majority countries.
The first weeks of the Biden government were also marked by a rapid return to multilateralism. The United States returned to adhere to the Paris climate agreement and the World Health Organization. The day before Biden’s foreign policy speech, Blinken signed a five-year extension to the New Start arms control agreement with Russia, two days before to expire.
The previous government had been largely hostile to the treaty and established a series of preconditions for its extension, such as the inclusion of China or a broader freeze on the number of warheads, which Moscow was not prepared to accept.
Pompeo ridiculed diplomats’ attachment to treaties “for their own good.” In his signature statement, Blinken emphasized the value of New Start in ensuring stability and transparency when looking for a new, more ambitious deal.