{"id":4427,"date":"2023-09-16T05:17:50","date_gmt":"2023-09-16T03:17:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dhcab.com\/?p=4427"},"modified":"2023-09-16T05:17:50","modified_gmt":"2023-09-16T03:17:50","slug":"us-saudi-arms-megadeal-collapses-over-russia-china-links","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dhcab.com\/?p=4427","title":{"rendered":"US-Saudi Arms ‘Megadeal’ Collapses Over Russia, China Links"},"content":{"rendered":"
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US weapons maker RTX, formerly known as\u00a0Raytheon\u00a0Technologies, scrubbed a multibillion deal with Saudi firm Scopa Defense earlier this year over “concerns” that the latter was pursuing business with sanctioned Russian and Chinese companies, according to people familiar with the deal that spoke with the\u00a0Wall Street Journal\u00a0(WSJ).
In 2022, RTX and Scopa signed a memorandum of understanding to build a factory in the kingdom for air defense systems to protect Riyadh from airstrikes. The plan reportedly called for installing radars and multiple air defense systems with an investment of $25 billion in the kingdom and $17 worth of sales.<\/p>\n

The owner of Scopa, Mohamed Alajlan, told the WSJ that his company has no deals with sanctioned Russian companies and that any deals with Chinese firms \u201care limited to securing raw materials such as copper or rubber for use in producing ammunition and armored vehicles.\u201d
\u201cWe don\u2019t work with any companies that have international sanctions,\u201d Alajlan told the WSJ, adding that the decision by RTX to scrub the deal was \u201crushed, illogical, and even irrational.\u201d
Alajlan, who also chairs the Saudi-Chinese Business Council, is the heir of a prominent Saudi family that for decades has imported Chinese textiles to the kingdom.
According to the WSJ, the \u201cunease\u201d over Scopa’s alleged ties to sanctioned Russian and Chinese companies \u201cwas a deciding factor for an advisory board of retired US military officers to resign from the Saudi company.\u201d Furthermore, the daily claims Scopa fired its chief executive \u201cwho had raised the sanctions concerns with his company\u2019s owner and US officials.\u201d
Alajlan is also accused of hiring an executive from a Russian company sanctioned by the US to run a separate firm he had set up, known as Sepha. Moreover, he reportedly hired a Chinese executive to run yet another firm, Tal, \u201cwhich had engaged in talks regarding deals with Chinese firms that are also sanctioned by Washington.\u201d Tal and Sepha shared computer servers with employees at Scopa, which was allegedly a major concern for RTX.
A document reviewed by the WSJ showed that Sepha had looked at \u201cmarketing Russian ammunition, body armor and surveillance equipment in Saudi Arabia, assembling Russian attack helicopters there, and manufacturing armored vehicles with Russia\u2019s Military Industrial Co.\u201d
The US embassy in Riyadh knew about the talks Tal and Sepha were having with Chinese and Russian companies as early as August 2022, according to the WSJ. US officials told Scopa that this \u201ccould seriously hinder the ability of Scopa to enter into contractual agreements with US defense firms.\u201d
The details of the failed \u201cmegadeal\u201d come as Washington is looking to\u00a0rekindle\u00a0ties with its longtime Arab partner after more than a year of simmering tensions that pushed Riyadh\u00a0closer\u00a0to Russia and China.<\/p>\n

There is no greater proof that the Biden administration is ignoring risk than having a war criminal committing crimes against humanity as not only a top client but also a potential ally.#CatoFP’s @jbcohen & @jeallenFP argue https:\/\/t.co\/Hrta2vjWLx<\/a>
\u2014 Cato Foreign Policy (@CatoFP) September 9, 2023<\/p>\n

RTX, one of the largest weapons firms in the US, is currently being sued alongside Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics for “aiding and abetting war crimes and extrajudicial killings” by selling weapons to the Saudi-led coalition waging war in Yemen. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the victims of two coalition bombings in Yemen — one for a wedding in 2015 and another for a funeral in 2016.
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), in October 2015, the Al-Sanabani family was readying to celebrate a relative’s wedding when a coalition jet bombed the area, killing 43 Yemenis, including 13 women and 16 children. A year later, coalition jets dropped a US-manufactured GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bomb on a crowded funeral, killing over 100.
The lawsuit alleges that western-manufactured bombs have killed over 25,000 civilians since the beginning of the NATO-backed war nearly eight years ago.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US weapons maker RTX, formerly known as\u00a0Raytheon\u00a0Technologies, scrubbed a multibillion deal with Saudi firm Scopa Defense earlier this year over “concerns” that the latter was pursuing business with sanctioned Russian and Chinese companies, according to people familiar with the deal that spoke with the\u00a0Wall Street Journal\u00a0(WSJ).In 2022, RTX and Scopa signed a memorandum of understanding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-issues"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dhcab.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dhcab.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dhcab.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dhcab.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dhcab.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dhcab.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dhcab.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dhcab.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dhcab.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dhcab.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}