The United States has sent a significant number of Patriot antimissile interceptors to Saudi Arabia upon an urgent request from Riyadh, reports say, amid intensified Yemeni retaliatory attacks on the kingdom.
Faraan: The Wall Street Journal reported that Washington transferred the interceptors to the kingdom within the past month.
The report said the move was aimed to fortify Saudi Arabia’s defense capacity in order to enable the kingdom to fend off drone and missile attacks conducted by the Yemeni army and popular committees in retaliation of the years-long Saudi aggression and siege.
A senior official within the administration of President Joe Biden, who asked not to be named, confirmed the news on Sunday night, telling the Associated Press that the transfer of the interceptors was in line with Biden’s promise that “America will have the backs of our friends in the region.”
Throughout the course of the war, the United States has supported and armed Saudi Arabia. Despite his promise to end “all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales,” Biden last year approved the sale of 280 air-to-air missiles valued at up to $650 million to Saudi Arabia.
Late in 2021, the Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin, told a Middle East conference that Washington was “significantly enhancing Saudi Arabia’s ability to defend itself.”
