Suspension of US arms deals with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates by the Biden government in the wake of the pressures he has against Riyadh, and bin Salman will pay any ransom to get rid of these pressures, the prospect of Democratic government relations
The US government, led by Joe Biden, recently announced the suspension of its arms deals with Saudi Arabia and the UAE; The incident took place shortly after the signing of a contract to sell 50 F-35 fighter jets to the UAE between the country and the administration of former US President Donald Trump in the last hours of Trump’s presidency.
Observers believe that the suspension of the Riyadh and Abu Dhabi arms deals may eventually lead to the cancellation of these contracts; In particular, the Democratic administration of the United States has made the cessation of its participation in the Yemeni war as a prelude to ending it, among the priorities of the first phase of its activities.
F35 fifth generation fighter
In the meantime, what has further reflected the US ruling decision is the suspension of the sale of F-35 fighter jets to the UAE, which was accompanied by the secret joy of the Zionists; Because from the beginning, they were against the contract and hope to cancel it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also tried not to link the US move to the UAE normalization agreement with Israel, saying that we were at a point of no return in the agreement.
Al-Monitor, a news-analytical website, reviewed the State Department’s decision to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in a report, describing it as a “cautious first step” by the State Department. The review of these deals, which took place in the final days of the Trump administration, has been described by new Secretary of State Anthony Blinken as a “routine review for any new administration” to ensure that the United States makes strategic and political progress.
According to the report, the arms deal with the UAE will make it the second most advanced F35 fighter in the Middle East after Israel. In this regard, the US Ambassador to the United States, Youssef Al-Atiba, said that the deal will enable the UAE to bear the burden of more regional security and thus free the US potential for other global challenges.
William Hartung, director of the weapons and security program at the left-wing Center for International Politics, called the review “a cautious first step in changing US arms transfer policy.” “It’s time to prioritize human rights and long-term security over economic concerns so that we can better decide which countries should receive American weapons,” he said.
Stop selling American weapons to Yemen war criminals for humanitarian purposes !?
But observers say Washington’s move to halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE is largely due to the Biden administration’s policies toward the Saudis, and the suspension of arms deals with Abu Dhabi and Riyadh on the pretext of being used in Yemen’s devastating war is itself a major goal. They are not considered American democrats.
The history of US-Democratic relations during the administration of former US President Barack Obama, with Joe Biden as his deputy for eight years, with Saudi Arabia shows the nature of Washington’s relationship with Riyadh, which is based on securing US interests in the Middle East . Saudi Arabia will not change.
The most notable cases that Biden has promised to address are the gross human rights abuses in the country, particularly the assassination of critical Saudi journalist Jamal Khashgeji and the crisis in Yemen. But how true Biden’s promise to address the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia is, and what the main purpose of the new US president is to raise the issue.
For Biden, Saudi Arabia is Trump’s dairy cow
Hours after US President Joe Biden was sworn in, and in the wake of the Democratic administration’s previous commitment to bring Khashgeji’s assassins to justice, US House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff called on the US Secretary of Homeland Security to release reports of Khashgeji’s assassination.
In a letter to National Intelligence Director Aurel Heinz, Adam Schaff called for a comprehensive intelligence report on the brutal and deliberate murder of Jamal Khashgeji, a US resident. He also demanded that the report on the murder of the Saudi journalist be kept secret, which would have a serious impact on the future of relations between Washington and Riyadh.
Aurel Hines, Joe Biden’s preferred candidate for the post of director of national intelligence, also said that information about the assassination of Jamal Khashgeji for the use of Congress is being declassified.
Under Trump, Washington’s policy toward Riyadh was that the Americans, regardless of the violations and open human rights abuses by Al Saud, supported the country extensively, led by the young Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who, with the direct intervention of Trump and His daughter and son-in-law should take this position. Trump himself has repeatedly called his intentions to open the Saudi treasury to the Americans, and even likened the Saudis to “dairy cows.”
Analysts believe that Biden is adjusting his policies towards Saudi Arabia for the same purpose; But his type and approach to using Riyadh is different. Accordingly, the magnification of the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia and the end of the war in Yemen, and finally the cessation of arms sales to this country, is interpreted first of all in the form of leverage of American pressure against the Saudis.
The levers of American Democratic pressure on Saudi Arabia
The case of Jamal Khashgeji is like a time bomb for Mohammad bin Salman, the head of the executive branch of Saudi Arabia, and the US Democrats seem to understand this very well, and in the first step, threatened to expose the crime report of Khashgeji murder. They know the biggest trump card for putting pressure on the young Saudi prince.
The heinous assassination of Jamal Khashgeji greatly affected the position of the young Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia in the first phase of his rule over Saudi Arabia with great hopes and aspirations. Issues such as symbolic reform and the introduction of a liberal society are among his efforts to repair his tarnished image in international forums, especially in the West. Most importantly, the multibillion-dollar ransom paid to Trump by Muhammad bin Salman to get rid of Khashgeji’s case is not something that can be easily overlooked.
Meanwhile, the Yemeni crisis is one of the most important Achilles heel of the Saudi regime, which, in addition to the political isolation of the Saudi government, has been able to engage the US government in a dignified settlement and force Biden to make promises in his election programs. Explicitly state withdrawal from US involvement with the Saudi regime. In fact, Biden has come to the conclusion that the Ansarullah group is not a small militant group, contrary to the image portrayed by the Saudi media of Saudi rewards, but that the Houthis control much of Yemen and most of it. Population density is also in the section controlled by Ansarullah.
In addition to opposing arms sales to Saudi Arabia, Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democratic senator on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has been a vocal critic of Saudi human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia. It was the war in Yemen and the brutal assassination of Jamal Khashgeji, and he called for sanctions against the country for his crimes, which were opposed by Trump.
On the other hand, according to documents leaked by the website of “Saudi Leaks”, the CIA, as following the complaint of “Saad Al-Jabri” known as the black box of Al Saud fugitive from Saudi Arabia who lives in Canada and announced that Bin Salman intends to repeat Khashgeji has a scenario about him, according to media reports, he said that the officials of this agency are considering different options in Saudi Arabia and there is a possibility that the United States will take action to remove Mohammad bin Salman .
The beginning of a new phase of bin Salman ransom to American lords
In this situation, the young Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, who did not even hesitate to suppress his relatives in order to reach the throne of the kingdom, is not willing to simply give up the dream of succeeding his father. In addition, the supply of advanced weapons from the United States is the largest military backing of the Saudis, and the continued suspension of arms deals is a major threat to Saudi security, marking the beginning of a new phase of Saudi ransom to Washington and the reopening of the Saudi treasury to the United States.
As can be seen from Joe Biden’s behavior, unlike Trump, he is somewhat disgusted with Mohammed bin Salman and may even intend to replace him with former Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who was targeted by the bin Salman campaign. Joe Biden had also expressed his opposition to Muhammad bin Salman from the very first days of Khashgeji’s assassination. On the other hand, bin Nayef was cooked by the CIA over the years, as the saying goes, and was ready to take power, and the United States had invested heavily in him. But he was put aside by the quasi-coup of Muhammad and his father.
Muhammad bin Nayef, former Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia
But, as noted, the Democrats in the United States are not acting in isolation from the Republicans, especially in the Middle East, and until Biden’s promises to Saudi Arabia are fulfilled, it cannot be said that he really intends to address the human rights situation in the country. In the end, observers believe that the alliance between Washington and Riyadh during the American Democratic era will remain somewhat the same as before; In particular, according to the evidence, the young Saudi Crown Prince will continue his previous approach to Washington, which is to pay large bribes.
