The United States is thinking about a possible revision of relations with one of the main allies in the Middle East – Saudi Arabia, writes CNBC.
US President Joe Biden has already announced a statement on the future of relations with Riyadh, which the White House is going to make on Monday, March 1. The speech is expected to announce additional sanctions against Saudi Arabia.
In late February, the State Department imposed restrictions on 76 citizens of the kingdom, whom Washington believes are involved in the murder of journalist Jamal Hashkuji in 2018, as well as the persecution of other dissidents abroad.
In addition, the US National Intelligence in its report accused the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, of approving the operation to kidnap and kill Hashkuji. The Saudi Arabian government, in turn, categorically denied these allegations.
Hashkuji, who has worked as a journalist with many Western publications and has often criticized the Saudi Arabian government, disappeared in October 2018 after visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Later, Riyadh confirmed his death. Last September, a Saudi court sentenced eight people to various terms of imprisonment on charges of kidnapping and murdering Hashkuji.
