US approves $5 billion missile sale to Saudi, UAE

Julian Bechocha

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States has approved a sale of missile defense systems in excess of $5 billion to the Gulf countries of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), it announced on Tuesday.

The US State Department said Saudi Arabia will buy 300 Patriot MIM-104E ballistic missile systems which will improve the Kingdom's "capability to meet current and future threats" and defend it against "Houthi cross-border unmanned aerial system and ballistic missile attacks on civilian sites and critical infrastructure," for an estimated cost of $3.05 billion. 

A civil war in Yemen since late 2014 has brought large-scale devastation to the country. The Saudi-led coalition has continued to support the Yemeni government in their fight to crush Houthi rebels in the country, who are accused of being backed by Iran.

The conflict in Yemen has been branded the "world's worst humanitarian crisis" by the United Nations. It renewed the Yemen truce for another two months on Tuesday.  

Yemen's Houthi rebels have also repeatedly struck Saudi infrastructure.

The US will also sell THAAD anti-ballistic missile defense systems to the UAE in a separate sale estimated at $2.245 billion. 

"This proposed sale will improve the UAE's ability to meet current and future ballistic missile threats in the region, and reduce dependency on US forces," another State Department statement reads.

Abu Dhabi, much like Riyadh, has also been the target of rocket attacks by the Houthis. It is also a part of the Saudi-led alliance that launched an air and ground campaign against Houthi rebels in 2015 following the start of the Yemeni civil war.

Tens of thousands have been killed, and over 80 percent of Yemen's population is dependent on aid, according to the UN.

In January, the US seized a stateless fishing vessel carrying 40 tons of fertilizer potentially used to make explosives in the Gulf of Oman. The ship was seized along a route infamously used to smuggle weapons to the Houthi rebels in Yemen from Iran.