New US arms deal for Saudi Arabia, worth 478 million dollars, revealed  

SANAA, May 30 (YPA) – An American newspaper quoted lawmakers as saying that the administration of President Donald Trump was going to sell $ 478 million worth of guided missiles to Saudi Arabia, despite opposition from Congress.
The New York Times reported that the US State Department had informally informed lawmakers in January that it was planning to complete the deal and grant licenses to Raytheon Military Industries to expand its activities in the kingdom.

The newspaper added that the proposal met with the rejection of the Democratic lawmakers in the Senate and the House of Representatives, but they fear that foreign officials will proceed with the completion of the deal.

The newspaper noted that a large number of members of Congress from both parties have repeatedly opposed selling arms to Saudi Arabia, because of the aggression against Yemen.

The newspaper said they were outraged when the Trump administration declared a state of emergency over Iran last year, by passing Congress and selling $ 8 billion in weapons, mostly to Saudi Arabia.

The newspaper also quoted Democratic Senator Chris Murphy as saying that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “tricked” away from Congress to pass the recent arms deal to Saudi Arabia, adding that Pompeo “created a fake emergency to pass the deal away from Congress,” adding that President Trump’s dismissal of the inspector The State Department’s year, Steve Link, may have hidden the Trump administration’s financial ties to the Saudi regime.

Senator Bob Menendez, vice chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, said last Wednesday that “the administration is currently trying to sell thousands of precision bombs to the friend of the president, Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.”

Menendez added that the Trump administration is seeking to conclude this deal, the details of which have not been disclosed yet.

With its Republican and Democratic wings, Congress voted against the arms deal, and passed a series of decisions to prevent the US administration from concluding these contracts with Saudi Arabia.

Trump was subject to intense accountability last year for declaring a national emergency to sell weapons to the kingdom, without congressional approval.

It is worth noting that the current US law requires the executive authority to notify Congress formally of intending to sell weapons to a foreign country, and gives a period of 30 days to Congress (deputies and elders) in order to stop the sale.