RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – DECEMBER 10: (—- EDITORIAL USE ONLY MANDATORY CREDIT – “BANDAR ALGALOUD / SAUDI KINGDOM COUNCIL / HANDOUT” – NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CUSTOMERS of Saudi —-) Crown Prince Arabia Mohammad bin Salman attends the 40th Annual Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Dec. 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 US intelligence report linked the royal family to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
“Historically and even in recent history, Democratic and Republican governments, there have been no sanctions against the leaders of foreign governments where we have diplomatic relations and even where we have no diplomatic relations,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. said during an interview about CNN’s “State of the Union” program.
“We believe there are more effective ways to ensure that this does not happen again, as well as to leave room to work with the Saudis in areas where there is mutual agreement,” said Psaki.
“This is what diplomacy looks like. This is what a complicated global engagement looks like and we have made no secret of it and it is clear that we will hold them accountable on the world stage,” said Psaki, adding that the government is stepping through the Treasury Department and Foreign Affairs.
When he ran for president, Joe Biden said he would hold senior Saudi leaders responsible for Khashoggi’s death, calling the kingdom’s leaders a “pariah” who had “very little social redeeming value.”
On Friday, the Treasury imposed sanctions on the Crown Prince’s security detail known as the Rapid Intervention Force. It also sanctioned former deputy chief of the kingdom’s intelligence agency Ahmad Hassan Mohammed al-Asiri, who is accused of being a leader in the plot.
Meanwhile, the State Department imposed visa restrictions on 76 Saudi individuals “believed to have been involved in threatening dissidents abroad, including but not limited to the murder of Khashoggi.”
Khashoggi, a 59-year-old resident of the US and a widely known critic of the Saudi royal family, went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018. He never showed up after the scheduled appointment. He was murdered in the Saudi government building and later dismembered. His remains have never been found.
A man holds a poster by Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a protest organized by members of the Turkish Arab Media Association at the entrance of the Saudi Arabia consulate on Oct. 8, 2018, in Istanbul, Turkey.
Chris McGrath | Getty Images News | Getty Images
When asked if the Biden administration 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 carried out attacks on the Houthis in Yemen. The Saudi-led intervention in Yemen had previously enjoyed the support of former President Donald Trump’s administration. And last month, Biden stopped selling precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia to assess potential human rights violations.
On the campaign trail, then Vice President Biden criticized then President Donald Trump’s refusal to address human rights abuses in the kingdom and the eagerness to sell the royals more American-made weapons.
“I would like to make it very clear that we are in fact not going to sell more weapons to them, we would in fact make them pay the price,” 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 patron of US defense companies. The Saudis are the largest purchaser of US-made weapons, a title that has protected the kingdom from retaliation following 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 be behind Saudi Arabia.
US President Donald Trump looks at Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman al-Saud as they line up for the family photo during the opening day of Argentina’s 2018 G20 Summit at Costa Salguero on November 30, 2018, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. .
Daniel Jayo | Getty Images
During his presidency, Trump often cited the importance of America’s relationship with Saudi Arabia and repeatedly insisted on endorsing significant economic or political consequences for the human rights violations in Riyadh.
Trump has also previously said that the U.S. defense industry would be negatively impacted if his administration sanctioned the Saudis over Khashoggi’s murder.
“I’m telling you what I don’t want to do,” Trump told CBS “60 Minutes,” when asked if he could potentially block arms sales to Riyadh. “Boeing, Lockheed, Raytheon, all these [companies]I don’t want to hurt jobs. I don’t want to lose such an order. There are other ways to punish, to use a word that’s a pretty harsh word, but it’s true, ” he said a month after Khashoggi’s disappearance.
Read more: Restrictions on arms sales to Saudi Arabia would likely have limited impact on US defense companies, says Cowen
The Biden administration has previously said it is reviewing US relations with Saudi Arabia and unlike the previous administration, the 35-year-old royal family is not seen as the president’s counterpart. Instead, Biden will maintain relations through the crown prince’s elderly father, King Salman, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken will maintain relations through the Secretary of State.