{"id":11993,"date":"2023-09-22T12:12:39","date_gmt":"2023-09-22T17:12:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whia.us\/?p=11993"},"modified":"2023-09-22T12:27:57","modified_gmt":"2023-09-22T17:27:57","slug":"pentagon-approves-500m-arms-deal-with-saudi-arabia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whia.us\/en\/11993\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon approves $500m arms deal with Saudi Arabia"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WHIA- Newswire<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
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Washington\u2019s Defense Security Cooperation Agency\u00a0<\/span>announced\u00a0<\/span><\/a>on 21 September that the Pentagon has authorized potential arms deal with Saudi Arabia worth $500 million.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of Cooperative Logistics Supply Support Arrangement (CLSSA) Program, Foreign Military Sales Order (FMSO) II and related equipment for an estimated cost of $500 million,\u201d the statement read.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis proposed sale will support U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives by supporting a strategic partner\u2019s self-defense and promoting stability in [West Asia]\u201d and will \u201cmaintain Saudi Arabia\u2019s capability to meet current and future threats by allowing the RSLF to continue to purchase needed spare\/repair parts.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The statement adds that the sale \u201cwill not alter the basic military balance in the region,\u201d as it would only fund components for Saudi Arabia\u2019s existing Abrams and M-60 tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, light armored vehicles, and Humvees. It would also fund spare and repair parts for rifles and pistols as well as crew-served weapons systems \u2013 a far cry from the advanced arms sales Saudi Arabia has been seeking from the US as part of its conditions for normalizing ties with Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

The potential deal received Pentagon approval just days after US media revealed that weapons maker\u00a0<\/span>RTX\u00a0<\/span><\/a>\u2013 formerly known as\u00a0<\/span>Raytheon\u00a0<\/span><\/a>\u2013 dropped a multibillion-dollar deal with Saudi firm Scopa Defense earlier this year due to \u201cconcerns\u201d that the kingdom was pursuing business with sanctioned Russian and Chinese companies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Saudi ties to Moscow and\u00a0<\/span>Beijing<\/span><\/a>\u00a0have developed significantly recently, particularly in the wake of OPEC+ production cuts and increased\u00a0<\/span>energy cooperation<\/span><\/a>\u00a0with both countries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In March, the kingdom signed a Chinese-brokered reconciliation agreement with Iran, which many saw as a considerable political shift away from Washington.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nonetheless, the kingdom is moving forward with a US-sponsored push for normalization with Israel. In recent months, sources and officials have said that this potential deal would include US assistance for the kingdom in\u00a0<\/span>enriching uranium<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The deal also includes a firm\u00a0<\/span>defense treaty<\/span><\/a>\u00a0between Washington and Riyadh that would ensure both sides come to each other’s aid in the case of an attack in the region.<\/span><\/p>\n

Riyadh has maintained publicly that Israeli concessions toward the <\/span>Palestinians\u00a0<\/span><\/a>are integral to achieving normalization.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A recent\u00a0<\/span>report<\/span><\/a>\u00a0claimed that the normalization effort has been stalled over Israeli abuse and oppression of Palestinians. However, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS)\u00a0<\/span>refuted<\/span><\/a>\u00a0these claims in an interview on 20 September, adding that the kingdom is \u201c<\/span>getting closer<\/span><\/a>\u201d every day to normalizing ties with Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This proposed sale will support U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":11402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[142,199,128],"tags":[],"series":[1027],"coauthors":[238],"class_list":["post-11993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-most-important-topics-en","category-top-stories","category-updates-en","series-whia-synergy"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/whia.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/Saudi-American-Flag-1-350x350-2.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/whia.us\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/whia.us\/en\/feed\/podcast\/whia-synergy","embedCode":"

Pentagon approves $500m arms deal with Saudi Arabia<\/a><\/blockquote>