TEHRAN – Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) vowed that President Donald Trumpwould have a fight on his hands as he presses to realize a sweeping armssale to Saudi Arabia.
Speaking at a forum in New York, the Speaker said the House would soon voteto block the transfer of weapons to Riyadh, which the administration saysis vital to protecting US interests in the region amid escalating tensionswith Iran, The Hill reported.
“There will be a vote to remove any authority to make those sales to SaudiArabia,” Pelosi stated Thursday night during an interview with FareedZakaria hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations, adding that “this issomething that we will fight, and we’ll have bipartisan support to fight”.
The comments came a day after Senate opponents of the deal secured the 51votes needed to block the transfer in the upper chamber, after fourRepublican lawmakers went against the president on the measure. But it’sunlikely that either chamber could find the two-thirds majority needed tooverride a presidential veto, as was the case last month when the Senatefailed to override Trump’s veto of increased military assistance to Yemen.
The State Department last month invoked an emergency provision under theArms Export Control Act to push through 22 arms sales to Saudi Arabia, theUnited Arab Emirates, Jordan and other countries. The tactic allows theadministration to sidestep Congress in finalizing a deal, worth roughly $8billion, that includes Patriot missiles, drones, precision-guided bombs andother military support.
In the House, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) introduced legislation Wednesday toblock the entirety of Trump’s wish list of 22 arms sales. Another slimmermeasure, targeting precision-guided bombs, was introduced by Reps. DavidCicilline (D-R.I.), Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) and Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.).
Opponents of the deal are wary of granting any new assistance to SaudiArabia in light of Riyadh’s involvement in the war in Yemen, which haskilled countless thousands of civilians and created a dire humanitariancrisis. They’re also loath to help the same Saudi leaders who, according tothe CIA, ordered the assassination and dismemberment of a vocal critic oftheir reign, Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi.
Pelosi, noting that Trump’s first trip abroad as president was to SaudiArabia, wondered what’s driving the president’s alacrity to strengthen tieswith Riyadh, even as he’s sought to punish more traditional allies withtariffs.
She’s also warning that Trump’s arms deal “includes nuclear technology thathe is transferring to Saudi Arabia”.
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“Follow the money. What’s going on here?” she stated, noting, “And there’sa question of who is financially benefiting from the nuclear part of thesales to Saudi Arabia. … The case against Saudi Arabia — in terms ofYemen, in terms of Khashoggi, in terms of so much — that they should not bereceiving these weapons sales is very strongly bipartisan in the Congress.”
The debate comes amid increased tensions between the United States andIran. On Thursday, two oil tankers were attacked in the Gulf of Oman, andhours later Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused the Iranians oforchestrating the “unprovoked” blasts, though he provided no evidence.
Those attacks came weeks after Trump heightened the US military presence inthe Persian Gulf, ordering new deployments of bombers, missile batteriesand a carrier group to the region to combat what the administration hasdeemed new threats from an ever-aggressive Iranian government.
Pelosi said she’s been heartened by the noninterventionist position Trumphas supported in the past — a message she reiterated Thursday night. Butshe also warned that the new saber-rattling with Iran creates “a verydangerous situation”, and hammered the president for his decision to pullout of the Iran nuclear agreement, adopted by former President Barack Obamain 2015.
“You have to wonder why, if you do not want Iran to have a nuclear weapon,and then you say, ‘Well they could have a nuclear weapon in 10 years underthis agreement’. Well, without the agreement they could have one in oneyear. So what’s the logic except some other issue? That it was negotiatedby President Obama?” she noted.
“I’m not going to accuse anybody of instigating anything, but we’re nothaving a policy that would smooth the waters, so to speak,” she added,stating, “I think he probably knows that there’s no appetite for war amongthe American people.”
