The Senate on Thursday rejected a bid by Sen. Rand Paul to block arms sales to Qatar and Bahrain even as senators brace for a more contentious debate next week over proposed weapons exports to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The vote Thursday means the proposed sales — a $3 billion Apache Helicopter package for Qatar and a $750 million munitions package to support Bahrain’s F-16 fleet — can go forward.

Senators voted 43-56 against the motion to discharge the disapproval resolution for the Bahrain sale from the Foreign Relations Committee and 42-57 against the motion to discharge the disapproval resolution for the Qatar sale.

Paul, a foreign policy isolationist, argued it was unwise to permit further weapons exports to the Middle East at a time of rising regional instability between Iran and Saudi Arabia as well as continued threats from regional terrorist groups.

Paul used most of his floor time to castigate Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy. He sought to connect lawmakers’ deep frustrations with Riyadh to the weapon sales to Bahrain — a tiny Gulf nation that is a close ally of Riyadh — and Qatar — a political rival of Saudi Arabia.