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U.S. Sends Patriot Missiles to Saudi Arabia, Fulfilling Urgent Request
(Wall Street Journal) David S. Cloud - The U.S. has transferred a significant number of Patriot antimissile interceptors to Saudi Arabia within the past month, fulfilling Riyadh's urgent request for a resupply, senior officials said. Saudi Arabia needs the defensive munitions to fend off drone and missile attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen. On Saturday and Sunday, Houthi forces in Yemen fired missiles and drones at five energy and water-desalination facilities run by Aramco, the Saudi state oil company. U.S. officials said the decision to send the interceptors had taken months because of the high demand for the weapons by other U.S. allies, not because the White House was deliberately delaying the resupply. The interceptors and other munitions sent to Saudi Arabia were taken from U.S. stockpiles elsewhere in the Middle East.