Atlanta, United States of America (CNN) – High-ranking US officials confirmed that Washington is ready to “reset relations” with Saudi Arabia and bypass the case of the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in his country’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018, with the aim of repairing relations between Washington and Riyadh.
This step represents a major shift in the position of US President Joe Biden, who promised during his election campaign to “renounce” Saudi Arabia as a result of Khashoggi’s murder. His administration published an intelligence report last year in which it directly accused Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of plotting to kill the Saudi journalist.
Biden, under heavy pressure to deter Russia and deal with lower gas prices in America amid the sharpest acceleration in inflation since 1981, has put aside his moral perspective and the anger over Khashoggi’s murder to rebuild warmer relations with the kingdom amid the turmoil, officials say. The major world witnessed as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
A senior US official said, “The two countries agreed to move beyond (Khashoggi’s killing) in order to bring peace and stability to the Middle East,” while Saudi Arabia considers Khashoggi’s case closed and has repeatedly informed US officials.
The sources emphasized that overcoming the issue of the killing of the Saudi journalist does not mean tolerating or forgetting the matter, and pointed out that Biden will discuss this issue directly with the Saudi Crown Prince, Prince Muhammad bin Salman, when they meet next month.
Some officials in the US administration believe that Washington should take greater steps in order to hold Prince Mohammed bin Salman accountable for the killing of Khashoggi.
Nevertheless, it seems that a shift in the US administration’s policy is on its way after months of meetings in Riyadh between Biden’s top advisers, Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein on the one hand, and Saudi officials on the other, including the Saudi crown prince.