The United States has approved a $3.05 billion sale of Patriot missiles to Saudi Arabia following President Joe Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia.
300 Patriot missiles, officially known as GEM-T, formerly ask According to Bloomberg, Saudi Arabia will seek congressional approval based on negotiations with contractors. The sales package includes tools, test equipment, spare parts and logistical support for tactical ballistic missiles.
“The U.S. also announced a possible sale to the United Arab Emirates of additional Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System or THAAD missiles, THAAD fire control and communications stations, and related equipment at an estimated cost of $2.25 billion,” the outlet noted.
In a statement announcing the sale to Saudi Arabia, the U.S. State Department said the missiles would help Saudi Arabia defend against “continued attacks on civilian sites and critical infrastructure by Houthi cross-border unmanned aerial systems and ballistic missiles.”
“These attacks threaten the well-being of Saudi, international and U.S. citizens (approximately 70,000) residing in the kingdom,” the statement said.
Before visiting Saudi Arabia, President Joe Biden promised that he would turn the kingdom into a pariah state because of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. His stance was strangely manifested when the president greeted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with a clumsy fist instead of a handshake.
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Fred Ryan, Publisher Washington post, Call When a ‘shameful’ attempt projects a level of ‘intimacy and comfort that passes on to [the prince] The baseless redemption he had been desperately seeking. “
“Is this what you promised? [Khashoggi’s] murder? The blood of the next MBS victim is on your hands,” Khashoggi’s ex-fiancee Hatice Cengiz tweeted.
The president’s visit with the crown prince did not end as he had hoped, with Saudi Arabia not making a firm commitment to increase oil production due to a surge in gas prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
