Bahrain Mirror-Exclusive: The American the Washington Times newspaper said "the Trump administration is poised to move quickly to approve major weapons packages for Saudi Arabia and Bahrain that President Obama blocked during his final months in office over human rights concerns in both nations, U.S. officials and congressional sources say."

While the White House declined to discuss its plans, one U.S. official directly involved in the transfers told The Washington Times that "a roughly $300 million precision-guided missile technology package for Riyadh and a multibillion-dollar F-16 deal for Bahrain are now in the pipeline ready for clearance from the new administration."

The newspaper indicated that "the deals, if approved, would send a significant signal about the priorities of the new administration, where the security challenge posed by forces such as Islamist jihadi groups and Iran is taking a much greater precedence in setting foreign policy."

"These are significant sales for key allies in the Gulf who are facing the threat from Iran and who can contribute to the fight against the Islamic State," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Whereas the Obama administration held back on these, they're now in the new administration's court for a decision - and I would anticipate the decision will be to move forward."

The Pentagon also declined to comment. But congressional sources said they anticipate the Trump administration will easily overcome resistance on Capitol Hill, where Democrats and some Republicans have called for restrictions on sales to Riyadh amid an outcry from human rights groups over large-scale civilian casualties of the Saudi-led military campaign in neighboring Yemen.

The Obama administration blocked the proposed $3 billion sale of 19 Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets to Bahrain until the tiny Sunni Arab monarchy demonstrated measurable progress on human rights.

"It's not clear whether the Bahrain and Saudi deals will face the same level of opposition on Capitol Hill as was seen last fall. Once the Trump administration signs off on the deals, Congress will have 30 days to block them," the newspaper added.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker suggested the Bahrain deal may be imminent, but declined to comment on the Saudi deal.

"I'm hoping the Bahrain deal is going to roll out without the restrictions," Croker told Defense News last week. "I think it could happen soon."

William Hartung of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for International Policy noted in an analysis published in December that the Obama administration offered more than $115 billion worth of weapons to Riyadh in 42 separate deals between 2009 and 2016 - more than any U.S. administration in history.

"The majority of this equipment is still in the pipeline, and could tie the United States to the Saudi military for years to come," wrote Mr. Hartung, who said in an interview this week that the Trump administration should proceed with caution on both Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

"In the case of Bahrain, whatever purported benefits they would get from more F-16s are counterweighted by the fact that they suppress democracy," he said.

The Obama administration's sudden resistance in December had also sent "a concrete message" to the Saudis that "we're not going to tolerate their indiscriminate bombing of civilians in Yemen," he added.

"To lift that now, without some indication from the Saudis that they're going to stop doing it, makes no sense," Mr. Hartung said.

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