A US delegation led by White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan brought up the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in talks with leading Saudi Arabian officials last week, a senior US official said, according to Reuters.
Sullivan, Middle East envoy Brett McGurk and other US officials met in Riyadh on September 28 with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other top Saudi officials.
While the main point of the talks was to discuss the conflict in Yemen and ways to arrange a ceasefire, a senior Biden administration official told reporters that the US delegation also brought up the case of Khashoggi specifically and human rights in general.
Khashoggi was killed and dismembered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. Saudi Arabia admitted that Khashoggi was killed after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, after initially denying Turkish claims that he was murdered.
An intelligence report released in February by the Biden administration said that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved Khashoggi’s murder.
US President Joe Biden has worked to recalibrate US relations with Saudi Arabia after the friendly ties his predecessor, Donald Trump, had with Saudi officials.
Khashoggi’s murder had resulted in tensions between lawmakers and the White House. Trump had reaffirmed his support for Saudi Arabia, despite the murder of Khashoggi, insisting the US-Saudi Arabian alliance is beneficial not only for American interests, but also for those of Israel.
Lawmakers from both parties, meanwhile, had called for a strong US response to Khashoggi's murder.