New | US Senate approves plan to sell over US$1 bn in arms sales to Saudi Arabia

The US Senate on Wednesday backed the Obama administration’s plan to sell more than US$1 billion worth of American-made tanks and other weapons to Saudi Arabia, soundly defeating a bid to derail the deal pushed by lawmakers critical of the kingdom’s role in Yemen’s civil war.

Senators who supported the sale said the United States can’t deny its Middle East allies the weapons they need to combat Islamic State extremists and check Iran’s aggression in the region.

“Blocking this sale of tanks will be interpreted by our Gulf partners, not just Saudi Arabia, as another sign that the United States of America is abandoning our commitment to the region and is an unreliable security partner,” said Arizona Republican Senator John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Although a resolution against the sale failed to advance on a vote of 71-27, the measure’s sponsors said the debate demonstrated that congressional support for arms sales — even to a longtime and important Middle East ally — isn’t automatic. They also used the time to insist that Congress play a larger role in foreign policy decisions, especially those involving the use of military force.

The war in Yemen is pitting the country’s internationally recognised government and a Saudi-led coalition against the Shiite rebels known as Houthis, who are allied with army units loyal to a former president.