United States and Saudi Arabia relations

Several U.S. Republican senators this weekend rejected President Donald Trump's embrace of Saudi Arabia after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, with some lawmakers from his party saying Congress must take additional action. Trump vowed last week to remain a "steadfast partner" of Saudi Arabia and said it was not clear whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman knew about the plan to kill Khashoggi last month at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The president cast doubt on the CIA assessment that Crown Prince Mohammed ordered Khashoggi's killing, telling reporters that the agency had not formed a definitive conclusion.The United States on Nov. 15 imposed economic sanctions on17 Saudi officials for their role in the killing of Khashoggi and senators from both major U.S. parties introduced legislation that would suspend weapon sales to Saudi Arabia over Khashoggi and for its role in Yemen's civil war.To assist us we are joined by• Ibrahim Deen, researcher at the Afro Middle East Center • Brooks Spector, associate editor and US Foreign Policy expert at Daily Maverick • Professor John Stremlau, from the Department of International Relations at Wits University