RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – DECEMBER 10: (—- EDITORIAL USE ONLY COMPULSORY CREDIT – “BANDAR ALGALOUD / SAUDI KINGDOM COUNCIL / HANDOUT” – NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING OFFICERS – SADIU RIBIED bin Salman attends the 40th Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) annual summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on December 10, 2019. (Photo by Bandar Algaloud / Saudi Kingdom Council / Handout / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Anadolu Agency
WASHINGTON – The White House on Sunday defended its decision not to target Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, after a U.S. intelligence report linked the royal to the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
“Historically and even in recent history, Democratic and Republican governments, no sanctions have been imposed on the leaders of foreign governments where we have diplomatic relations and even where we do not have diplomatic relations,” White House spokesman Jen Psaki said. , said. said during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” program.
“We believe there are more effective ways to make sure this does not happen again, and also to leave space to work with the Saudis on areas where there is mutual agreement,” Psaki said.
“This is what diplomacy looks like. This is what a complex global engagement looks like and we made no secret and it was clear that we were going to hold it accountable on the world stage,” Psaki said. walk through the treasury and the state department.
When he was elected president, Joe Biden said he would hold senior Saudi leaders responsible for the deaths of Khashoggi, who calls the kingdom’s leadership a ‘pariah’ that has ‘very little social redemption value’.
On Friday, the Treasury imposed sanctions on the Crown Prince’s security details, known as the Rapid Intervention Force. It also confirms the former deputy head of the kingdom’s intelligence service, Ahmad Hassan Mohammed al-Asiri, who is accused of being a main leader in the conspiracy.
Meanwhile, the State Department imposed a visa restriction on 76 Saudi individuals “who were allegedly involved in threatening dissidents overseas, including but not limited to the assassination of Khashoggi.”
Khashoggi, a 59-year-old American resident and a well-known critic of the Saudi royal family, went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018. He never came forward after the scheduled appointment. He was killed inside the Saudi government building and later disbanded. His remains were never recovered.
A man holds a poster of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a rally organized by members of the Turkish Arab Media Association at the entrance of Saudi Arabia’s consulate on October 8, 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey.
Chris McGrath | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Asked if the Biden government would take further action, Psaki said the United States would recalibrate its relationship with Saudi Arabia in the wake of the Trump administration.
Earlier this month, Biden announced the end of US support for offensive operations in Yemen. Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been attacking the Houthis in Yemen. The Saudi-led intervention in Yemen has previously enjoyed the support of former President Donald Trump’s government. Last month, Biden halted sales of precision-guided ammunition to Saudi Arabia to assess possible human rights violations.
On the campaign trail, then-Vice President Biden criticized the refusal of then-President Donald Trump to address the human rights violations of the kingdom and the eagerness to sell the royals more American-made weapons.
“I want to make it very clear that we are not going to sell them weapons anymore, but that they will make the price pay,” Biden said during a Democratic presidential debate. “They must be held accountable,” he added.
Saudi Arabia’s oil – rich monarchy is one of America’s most strategic partners and a major protector of US defense companies. The Saudis are the leading buyer of US-made weapons, a title that protected the kingdom from retaliatory sanctions over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
Despite reports that Saudi Arabia was behind the attack, Trump said in a lengthy statement that the United States would stand with Saudi Arabia.
US President Donald Trump watches Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman al-Saud as they stand up for the family photo during the opening day of Argentina’s G20 Leaders Summit 2018 on Costa Salguero on November 30, 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Daniel Jayo | Getty Images
During his presidency, Trump often mentioned the importance of America’s relationship with Saudi Arabia, and repeatedly pushed back the approval of significant economic or political consequences for Riyadh’s human rights violations.
Trump also said earlier that the US defense industry would be negatively affected if his government punished the Saudi sanctions for the assassination of Khashoggi.
“I’m telling you what I do not want to do,” Trump told CBS ’60 Minutes’ when asked about the possible blockade of arms sales to Riyadh. ‘Boeing, Lockheed, Raytheon, all this stuff [companies]. I do not want to do work. I do not want to lose such an order. “There are other ways to punish, to use a word that is a rather harsh word, but it is true,” he said one month after Khashoggi’s disappearance.
Read more: Restrictions on arms sales to Saudi Arabia are likely to have a limited impact on U.S. defense companies, Cowen says
The Biden government has previously said it will review US relations with Saudi Arabia, and unlike the previous government, the 35-year-old royal is not considered the president’s counterpart. Instead, Biden and the relations will be led by the former Crown Prince’s speaker, King Salman, and Foreign Minister Antony Blinken, will be led by the Foreign Minister.