US ending aid to Saudi-led forces in Yemen, but questions persist

Joe Biden’s announcement is a pivot in US foreign policy, but experts say what exact support will be cut is unclear. United States President Joe Biden last week announced plans to end US support for Saudi Arabia’s “offensive operations” in war-torn Yemen, including ceasing relevant arms sales to the government in Riyadh. “So if the Saudis continued to use the Royal Saudi Air Force to bomb targets in Yemen, presumably, under this doctrine, that aid and assistance should halt.” The US began providing “logistical and intelligence support” to the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen in March 2015, shortly after Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates launched a military offensive in support of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who was overthrown by the Houthi rebels. Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at Oklahoma University, said the US support for the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen was “Obama’s way to trade for the Iran deal”, which was reached in July 2015. “There’s gonna be a lot of smoke and mirrors, and a lot of head fakes by the Biden administration.” ‘Not take the foot off the gas’ Meanwhile, the work continues for grassroots organisations that for years have urged the US to end its support for Saudi Arabia-led forces in Yemen, said Hassan el-Tayyab, a Middle East policy lobbyist at the Friends Committee on National Legislation.