Trump to bypass Congress to sell arms to Saudi, UAE: senator

President Donald Trump's administration is bypassing Congress to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, citing a threat from Iran, despite lawmakers' concerns about their possible use against civilians in Yemen, a senator said Friday.

Senator Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, had used his powers to block sales of tens of thousands of precision-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, fearing they would contribute to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where the US allies are mounting an offensive.

But the administration informed lawmakers that it was going around a legally required review by Congress to approve the sales as part of a total of 22 arms transactions to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other nations, Menendez's office said.

"I am disappointed, but not surprised, that the Trump administration has failed once again to prioritise our long-term national security interests or stand up for human rights, and instead is granting favours to authoritarian countries like Saudi Arabia," Menendez said in a statement.

He said that the administration, in explaining its intervention, "described years of malign Iranian behavior."