Rabat - According to a White House official, the United States and Saudi Arabia just announced they have reached arms deals worth $100 billion.
Rabat – According to a White House official, the United States and Saudi Arabia just announced they have reached arms deals worth $100 billion.
Living up to the rumours swirling ahead of US President Donald Trump's official touch down in Riyadh Saturday, the arms deals represent a "significant expansion" of the relationship the two countries have enjoyed for more than 70 years.
Earlier in May a different US official, under guarantee of anonymity, speculated that the deal could possibly surpass the $300 billion mark over the next ten years.
American defence contractors are Saudi Arabia's largest suppliers of arms. The deal will surely cement the Kingdom's place as one of the largest buyers of arms in the world. According to figures released in April by the Stockholm International Peace Institute (SIPRI), Saudi Arabia spent $63.7 billion in arms procurements in 2016 alone.
The deals come amid mounting pressure back home for the Trump administration to back off on arms deals to the Kingdom. Rights groups are citing the growing list of collateral civilian casualties in Yemen as a result of Saudi air strikes against rebel forces.
On Thursday, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced the launch of state-owned arms manufacturing company, Saudi Arabian Military Industries, or SAMI.