Oil Price By Cyril Widdershoven - Feb 08, 2021
The new Biden Administration has largely been focused on fulfilling its election promises in its first month in power. After reversing an extensive list of Trump policies via executive orders, Biden is now focusing on the Middle East. In stark contrast to his predecessor, Joe Biden’s administration is taking a reserved and diplomatic approach towards the ongoing crisis in the Middle East region. While the new administration is yet to fully address Iranian Sanctions or the JCPOA-agreement, it has stepped up the pressure on some Arab countries by temporarily blocking U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. In yesterday’s “historic†speech, Biden addressed U.S. military support for the Saudi-led anti-Houthi alliance currently fighting in Yemen. International media has been largely focused on the perceived hard-line position taken by Biden. By removing full-scale offensive military support for Saudi forces, Washington seems to be pushing for a diplomatic solution to the conflict, in which Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and others are fighting a proxy war against the Iranian supported Houthi forces. Diplomatic sources indicate that the move is a "routine administrative action", noting that it was standard for incoming administrations to review large arms deals initiated by outgoing administrations. Still, Biden’s moves are not going to go down very well in the respective Arab Gulf capitals. Other major players, such as Egypt, Israel, and Jordan will be watching Biden’s moves carefully in the coming months. Among the sales that have been put on hold is a massive $23 billion (€19 billion) deal to supply the UAE with 50 Lockheed-Martin F-35 stealth fighter jets. The deal was made in the final days of the Trump presidency, after the November 6 election. It remains unclear whether or not other Trump arms deals are also going to be targeted, such as the December 29 2020 approved potential sale of 3,000 precision-guided missiles, worth as much as $290 million, to Saudi Arabia.
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