The Biden administration on Wednesday cut off U.S. arms sales to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia – one of several Trump-era foreign policy moves.
Secretary of State Tony Blinken, who was confirmed as the nation’s top diplomat on Tuesday, presented reporters with some of the administration’s immediate priorities in a press briefing on Wednesday.
Blinken said arms sales to the two Arab nations, which were announced shortly after election day, will be reviewed to determine whether they meet US national security goals.
Affected by the suspension is the transfer of $ 23 billion of stealth F-35 fighters to the UAE.
Some fear that the UAE and Saudi Arabia will use US advanced weapons to continue the Saudi-led war in Yemen, risking more civilian deaths in the country.
Blinken has expressed the most serious concern about another foreign policy implemented in the declining days of the Trump administration, which designates Youthi rebels in Yemen as terrorists.
“We are taking a very urgent and very careful look at this,” Blinken told reporters.
Critics are concerned that the designation of the terrorist, which includes strict US sanctions, will further inflame Yemen’s humanitarian crisis.
The US-Russia relationship will face a comprehensive overhaul, according to Blinken.
And the Biden administration also wants to make a deep dive into the US-Taliban peace agreement signed almost a year ago.
“We need to understand exactly what is in agreement,” Blinken said, before the administration could decide how to move forward.
The agreement was reached to try to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by May 2021, after nearly 20 years of war.
The Biden administration has called for Zalmay Khalilzad, Trump’s special envoy for Afghanistan, to remain on board so that he can “continue the vital work he is doing,” Blinken said.
As for Iran, Blinken said the administration is ready to ease the sanctions that the Trump administration has imposed again, as long as the country returns to full compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal.
With Post threads