Speaking to the Agence France-Presse on Friday after the release of the U.S. intelligence report into the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, ISD Director of Programs and Research Kelly McFarland analyzed its implications for U.S.-Saudi relations:
“It’s a signal to the Saudis that the U.S. is going to be more strict, that it’s not going to be sort of an open door for whatever the Saudis want to do; whether that’s purchasing arms from the United States, waging war in Yemen, and obviously—especially not—assassinating outspoken critics of the Kingdom’s politics, wherever that may be, in Turkey or anywhere else.”