The Biden administration announced sanctions and visa bans on Friday targeting Saudi Arabian citizens over the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but stopped short of imposing sanctions on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman himself, Reuters reports. A senior Biden administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity to Reuters, said the approach aims to create a new launching-off point for ties with the kingdom without breaking a core relationship in the Middle East, and amounted to a “recalibration, not a rupture” between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.
The sanctions target Ahmad Hassan Mohammed al Asiri, Saudi Arabia’s former deputy head of the General Intelligence Presidency and Saudi Arabia’s Rapid Intervention Force (RIF) over their roles in Khashoggi’s killing in Istanbul in 2018. The Treasury Department said al Asiri was the “ringleader” of the assassination and coordinated the killing with Riyadh, and several members of the hit squad that murdered Khashoggi were members of the RIF, The Hill reports.
According to the top administration official quoted by Reuters, the decision to impose sanctions on Saudis involved in the killing but not the Crown Prince was taken to ensure that U.S.-Saudi relations continue on new footing. Per Reuters:
“Importantly, the decisions appear designed to preserve a working relationship with the crown prince, the kingdom’s de facto leader, even though U.S. intelligence concluded that he approved the operation to capture or kill Khashoggi…’The aim is a recalibration (in ties) – not a rupture. That’s because of the important interests that we do share,’ the senior Biden administration official said.”
Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen said the sanctions hold those responsible accountable.
“Those involved in the abhorrent killing of Jamal Khashoggi must be held accountable. With this action, Treasury is sanctioning Saudi Arabia’s Rapid Intervention Force and a senior Saudi official who was directly involved in Jamal Khashoggi’s murder,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
“The United States stands united with journalists and political dissidents in opposing threats of violence and intimidation,” she continued. “We will continue to defend the freedom of expression, which is the bedrock of a free society.”
When asked about any debate about applying sanctions against the crown prince, the first U.S. official said that the United States has not generally applied sanctions “on the highest leadership of countries.”
“We really (came to) the unanimous conclusion that there’s just other, more effective means to dealing with these issues going forward,” the official said.
