White House announces end to U.S. support for offensive operations in Yemen
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
President Biden on Thursday will announce an end to U.S. support for offensive operations in Yemen, where a brutal civil war has resulted in one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said at a press briefing.
Why it matters: Pulling support for the war in Yemen was one of Biden's top foreign policy campaign promises. It marks a significant reversal from U.S. policy under former President Trump, who vetoed bipartisan resolutions passed by Congress that called for the U.S. to stop providing weapons to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.
Between the lines: It's unclear what kinds of support the Biden administration will continue to provide to Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally that led the 2015 intervention in Yemen against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels that toppled the pro-Saudi government in Sana'a.
- Sullivan said Thursday that the halt in support will include suspending two arms sales of precision-guided munitions that had been signed off on by the Trump administration.
- He added that the suspension does not apply to U.S. actions against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and that Biden would announce a special envoy for Yemen later on Thursday as part of a strategy to play a "more active, engaged role in diplomacy to bring an end to the conflict."
What they're saying: "We have spoken with both senior officials in the UAE and senior officials in Saudi Arabia," Sullivan said. "We have consulted with them. We are pursuing a policy of no surprises when it comes to these types of actions so they understand that this is happening and they understand our reasoning and rationale for it."
