News / Saudi Arabia

Spain to build five warships for Saudi Arabia under new deal

Thursday, 19 July 2018 5:27 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 19 July 2018 5:30 PM ]

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (L) and Spanish Minister of Defense Maria Doroles de Cospedal sign agreements as Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy looks on at La Moncloa palace in Madrid on April 12, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

Madrid has inked a military deal with the Riyadh regime, which would see a Spanish firm build five warships for Saudi Arabia, despite an international cry against the sales of military equipment to the kingdom amid its bloody war on impoverished Yemen.

The agreement was signed between the state-owned Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) and Spain’s shipbuilder, Navantia, on Thursday, paving the way for the two sides to set up a joint venture in the kingdom for constructing the five battleships, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The deal is part of a broader framework bilaterally agreed in April -- when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited Spain -- which is estimated to be worth around 1.8 billion euros ($2.2 billion).

PressTV-Spain, Saudi ink warship deal amid outcry over Yemen war

Spain and Saudi Arabia have signed a major deal for five small warships during Saudi crown prince's tour of the European country.

The report added that the program to design and build the five Avante 2200 Corvettes would start in the coming months and that the last unit would be delivered by 2022.

In turn, SAMI said, the joint venture would “localize more than 60 percent of ships combat systems works," including installation and integration.

The Madrid government has faced criticism for selling weapons to the Riyadh regime, which has been involved in a fatal military campaign against Yemen since early 2015.

Campaign groups Amnesty International, Spain’s FundiPau, Greenpeace and Oxfam are some of the activist groups that have called on Spain to stop selling military equipment to the Saudis, accusing them of abusing rights.

PressTV- Spain urged not to sell warships, arms to Saudi Arabia

Rights urge Spain, the last stop in the Saudi crown prince’s international tour, to scrap its planned sale of warships and weapon exports to Riyadh.

The Saudi-led campaign, which was launched in March 2015 in support of Yemen’s former Riyadh-friendly government, has so far killed and injured some 600,000 people, according to the Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights.

Besides Spain, the US, the UK and France have also been providing the Saudi regime with military equipment in the course of the war on Yemen.

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