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- The Biden administration announced new sanctions for Khashoggi’s murder.
- Saudi Crown Prince MBS is not subject to the new sanctions.
- The administration is also instituting a new visa restriction policy called Khashoggi Ban.
- Visit the Insider Business section for more stories.
The Biden administration will not sanction Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the 2018 assassination of Jamal Khashoggi even though the Saudi leader was explicitly implicated in the killing in a declassified US intelligence assessment.
The Treasury Department released sanctions on Friday against General Ahmed al-Asiri, a former deputy chief of the Saudi intelligence services, and the Saudi Arabian Rapid Intervention Force for connections to the Khashoggi’s assassination.
“Those involved in the heinous murder of Jamal Khashoggi must be held accountable. With this action, the Treasury is sanctioning the Saudi Arabian Rapid Intervention Force and a senior Saudi official who was directly involved in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi,” said the Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a statement. . “The United States stands together with journalists and political dissidents in opposing threats of violence and intimidation. We will continue to defend freedom of expression, which is the foundation of a free society.”
But the administration will not sanction Prince Mohammed, known colloquially as “MBS,” over concerns that he would “break” the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia, an administration official said, according to Reuters.
Prince Mohammed is the de facto ruler of the kingdom. But in a diplomatic snub from the crown prince, the White House recently announced that President Joe Biden’s official communications with the Saudis would involve King Salman and not Prince Mohammed. Biden and King Salman spoke for the first time on Thursday.
On Friday, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released the declassified report on Khashoggi’s assassination.
“We assess that the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad bin Salman, approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi,” the report said. “The Crown Prince viewed Khashoggi as a threat to the Kingdom and widely supported the use of violent measures if necessary to silence him.”
But besides being demoted in the eyes of the United States under the Biden administration, it is unclear what other consequences, if any, Prince Mohammed will face for Khashoggi’s murder.
Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist who was a columnist for the Washington Post at the time of his death, was assassinated by agents of his own government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. His body was dismembered, but Khashoggi’s remains have never been found.
The Khashoggi ban
People hold posters with images of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and lit candles during a meeting in front of the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul on October 25, 2018.
Yasin Akgul / Getty Images
After the ODNI’s assessment of Khashoggi’s death was released, the State Department announced a new policy involving visa restrictions called “Khashoggi’s Ban.”
“The Khashoggi ban allows the State Department to impose visa restrictions on individuals who, acting on behalf of a foreign government, are believed to have directly participated in serious extraterritorial activities against dissidents, including those that repress, harass, or police , threaten, or harm journalists, activists or others perceived as dissidents because of their work, or who participate in such activities with respect to the families or other close associates of such individuals, “Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
“As a matter of security for everyone within our borders, perpetrators who target perceived dissidents on behalf of any foreign government should not be allowed to reach US soil,” Blinken added. “While the United States remains committed to its relationship with Saudi Arabia, President Biden has made clear that the partnership must reflect American values.”
Blinken said that “to begin with,” the State Department is citing a ban on imposing visa restrictions on 76 Saudis “who are believed to have been involved in threatening dissidents abroad, including but not limited to the murder of Khashoggi. “. It is unclear whether Prince Mohammed will be affected by the new policy.
“Under US law, individual visa records are confidential and we cannot provide details on who is or will be included in the Khashoggi ban,” a State Department spokesperson told Insider.
