BERLIN (AP) – The German government has approved the export of air defense missiles to Saudi Arabia, underscoring a recent softening of its hardline stance on arms exports to the country.
Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said on Wednesday that the German Security Council, made up of Chancellor Olaf Scholz and several other ministers, had ordered 150 air-to-air missiles for the Iris-T air defense system in November 2016. confirmed the news magazine Der Spiegel's report that it had approved the export of End of 2023.
Following the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018, then-Prime Minister Angela Merkel's government banned arms exports to Saudi Arabia. Later, a conditional exception was made for systems developed jointly with other countries.
News of the Iris-T export approval comes after Foreign Minister Annalena Verbock said on Sunday that Germany was ready to deliver more Eurofighter jets to Saudi Arabia, produced by a consortium of multinational companies involving Berlin. Ta. The government had previously opposed doing so during Germany's current parliamentary term, which is due to end in autumn 2025.
The current ruling party said in its coalition agreement at the end of 2021 that it would not approve arms exports to countries “clearly and directly involved in the war in Yemen.”
The Hebestrite newspaper said Monday that Scholz shares Burbock's position. He said the government had reassessed the impact of the so-called “Yemen Clause” on Saudi Arabia in light of developments in the conflict.
He also pointed to what he called Saudi Arabia's “very constructive position” toward Israel in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, and that Yemen's Houthi rebels have turned against Israel. The Saudi air force shot down the missile that was launched by the Saudi Arabian government.
A tentative ceasefire between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition fighting on behalf of Yemen's government-in-exile has been in place for months despite the country's long war.
