Biden administration pauses arms sales to Gulf pending review

The Biden administration has placed a temporary hold on certain foreign arms sales prepared by the former Trump administration, including major transfers planned to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

“As is typical during the transition of US presidential administrations, the Department is temporarily pausing the implementation of some pending US defense transfers and sales… to allow incoming leadership an opportunity to review,” a State Department spokesperson told Al-Monitor via email.

"As we've said, we very much support the Abraham Accords," Blinken said when asked about the arms sale freeze during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

"We're also trying to make sure that we have a full understanding of any commitments that may have been made in securing those agreements, and that's something we're looking at right now," he said.