On Thursday, President Joe Biden declared\u00a0a halt to US support for a Saudi Arabia-led military campaign in Yemen demanding that the more than six-year war, widely seen as a proxy conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, \u201chas to end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden also named veteran US diplomat Timothy Lender king as the US special envoy for Yemen in a bid to step up American diplomacy \u201cto end the war in Yemen, a war which has created humanitarian and strategic catastrophe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The United Nations describes Yemen as the world\u2019s biggest humanitarian crisis, with 80% of its people in need and millions on the verge of a large-scale famine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis war has to end,\u201d the Democratic president said during a visit to the US State Department in Washington. \u201cAnd to underscore our commitment, we\u2019re ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The move is a reversal of a policy of both the Democratic Obama and Republican Trump administrations. Biden was vice president in the Obama administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said Saudi Arabia faces missile attacks, UAV (drone) strikes and other threats from Iranian-supplied forces in multiple countries. We\u2019re going to continue to support and help Saudi Arabia defend its sovereignty and its territorial integrity and its people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the country\u2019s state news agency, Saudi Arabia welcomed Biden\u2019s remarks, particularly his commitment to the country\u2019s defense and addressing threats against it,\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015, backing government forces fighting the Iran-aligned Houthis. UN officials are trying to revive peace talks to end the war as the country\u2019s suffering is also worsened by an economic crisis, currency collapse, and the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under the Trump administration, policy on Yemen was secondary to a so-called \u201cmaximum pressure\u201d sanctions campaign against Iran in a bid to force Tehran back into talks over its nuclear and missile programs and activities in the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Former President Donald Trump and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and a top aide, were also focused on maintaining their close ties with Saudi Arabia\u2019s effective ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which included US arms sales.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On Thursday, President Joe Biden declared\u00a0a halt to US support for a Saudi Arabia-led military campaign in Yemen demanding that the more than six-year war, widely seen as a proxy conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, \u201chas to end.\u201d Biden also named veteran US diplomat […]<\/p>\n
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