RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – DECEMBER 10: (—- EDITORIAL USE ONLY MANDATORY CREDIT – “BANDAR ALGALOUD / COUNCIL KINGDOM COUNCIL / HANDOUT” – WITHOUT MARKETING WITHOUT ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – CLIENT – DISTRIB Saudi Mohammad bin Salman attends the 40th Annual Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) 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 – White House on Sunday defended its decision not to attack Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after a US intelligence report linked the royal to the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018
“Historically and even in recent history, Democratic and Republican administrations, there have been no sanctions for foreign government leaders where we have diplomatic relations and even where we do not have diplomatic relations,” the press secretary said. White House Jen Psaki said during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” program.
“We believe there are more effective ways to make sure this doesn’t happen again and also to leave room to work with the Saudis in areas where there is mutual agreement,” Psaki said.
“That’s how diplomacy looks. It’s what looks like a complicated global compromise and we haven’t made any secrets and we’ve made it clear that we’re going to hold them accountable on the world stage,” Psaki said, adding that the administration is take pass through the Department of State and Finance.
When running for president, Joe Biden said he would hold senior Saudi leaders accountable for Khashoggi’s death, calling the kingdom’s leadership a “pariah” who had “very little social redemptive value.”
On Friday, the Treasury sanctioned the heir-apparent security detail, known as the Rapid Intervention Force. He also sanctioned the former deputy director of the kingdom’s intelligence service, Ahmad Hassan Mohammed al-Asiri, accused of being the leader of the plot.
Meanwhile, the State Department imposed visa restrictions on 76 Saudi people “who are believed to have pledged to threaten dissidents abroad, including, among others, the assassination of Khashoggi.”
Khashoggi, a 59-year-old U.S. resident and well-known critic of the Saudi royal family, went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018. He never left after the scheduled appointment. He was killed inside the Saudi government building and later dismembered. His remains were never recovered.
A man has a poster of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a protest organized by members of the Turkish-Arab Media Association at the entrance of the Saudi consulate on October 8, 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey.
Chris McGrath | Getty Images News | Getty Images
When asked if the Biden administration would take additional action, Psaki said the United States would recalibrate its relationship with Saudi Arabia as a result of the Trump administration.
Earlier this month, Biden announced the end of U.S. support for offensive operations in Yemen. Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have carried out attacks in Yemen against Houthis. The Saudi-led intervention in Yemen had previously enjoyed the support of former President Donald Trump’s administration. And last month, Biden stopped sales of precisely guided ammunition in Saudi Arabia to assess possible human rights abuses.
On the trail of the campaign, then-Vice President Biden criticized then-President Donald Trump’s refusal to address the kingdom’s human rights abuses and the desire to sell the royal family more weapons made in the United States.
“It would make it very clear that, in fact, we would not sell them more weapons, but would make them pay the price,” Biden said during a Democratic presidential debate. “They have to take responsibility,” he added.
Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich monarchy is one of America’s most strategic partners and a major patron of U.S. defense companies. The Saudis are the largest buyer of weapons made in the United States, a title that has saved 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 stay with Saudi Arabia.
U.S. President Donald Trump looks to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman al-Saud as they take family photos during the inaugural day of Argentina’s 2018 G20 Leaders Summit in Costa Salguero on November 30, 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Daniel Jayo | Getty Images
Throughout his presidency, Trump often cited the importance of America’s relationship with Saudi Arabia, repeatedly reiterating its approval of important economic or political consequences for Riyadh’s human rights abuses.
Trump has also said earlier that the U.S. defense industry would have a negative impact if his administration sanctioned the Saudis for Khashoggi’s assassination.
“I’m telling you what I don’t want to do,” Trump told CBS’s “60 Minutes” when asked about the possible blockade of arms sales in Riyadh. “Boeing, Lockheed, Raytheon, all that [companies]. I don’t want to hurt the jobs. I don’t want to lose an order like that. There are other ways to punish, use a word that is 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 a limited impact on U.S. defense companies, Cowen says
The Biden administration has previously said it is reviewing U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia and, unlike the previous administration, the 35-year-old royal is not considered the president’s counterpart. Instead, Biden will direct relations through the Crown Prince’s old father, King Salman, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken will direct relations through the Foreign Minister.