The United States will continue sharing intelligence with Saudi Arabia to help Riyadh defend itself from security threats, but will halt support for any offensive operations in Yemen, US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said during a virtual event hosted by the Middle East Institute on Monday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th February, 2021) The United States will continue sharing intelligence with Saudi Arabia to help Riyadh defend itself from security threats, but will halt support for any offensive operations in Yemen, US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said during a virtual event hosted by the middle East Institute on Monday.
"Over the last several weeks a number of attacks have been launched out of Yemen against Saudi Arabia. We will help the Saudis defend against those attacks by giving them intelligence when we can about those attacks," McKenzie said. "What we will not do is help them ... continue conduct offensive operations into Yemen."
McKenzie pointed out that the United States' interest in Yemen first and foremost is to counter terrorism and emphasized that its support for the Saudi-led coalition operating in Yemen has been made extremely limited.
McKenzie's comments come after US President Joe Biden announced on Thursday the United States was stopping all support for the Saudi-led offensive operations in Yemen, but would continue to defend its ally against other threats.
Biden also vowed to step up diplomatic efforts to solve the conflict by peaceful means and appointed veteran diplomat Timothy Lenderkin as his special envoy for Yemen.
On Friday, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said it welcomes the United States' stance toward to help resolve the crisis in Yemen by political means.
