"No relationship is too big to fail"

MIAMI – Five key Republican senators urge President Donald Trump to take punitive action against Saudi Arabia for the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, threatening to jeopardize ongoing nuclear talks with the kingdom if the president does not. Was not acting.

The group, led by Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), urges Trump on US-Saudi relations by calling on the president to suspend talks on civilian nuclear power with Saudi Arabia, and warning that They could block future US-Saudi nuclear deal.

"As new evidence emerged, and the administration was now aware of more information, you saw the tone and content of its comments change, and it was positive. But ultimately, if the words matter, the actions matter even more, "Rubio told the Daily Beast during an interview in Miami after being arrested for GOP governor candidate Ron DeSantis. "The most important thing to do here is not just that the president says the right things."

In the days following the admission by the Saudi government that Khashoggi had been murdered the month Last in the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul, the Trump administration promised to revoke some Saudi visas, leaving other options – including human rights sanctions – on the table. But some lawmakers are angry as they prepare to return to Washington after mid-term elections next week, even as Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have started to condemn the Saudi government with more force.

The Trump administration seeks to reach an agreement. Saudi government that would allow US companies to build nuclear facilities in Saudi Arabia. Legislators have long expressed the fear that such an agreement will pave the way for the Saudis to develop nuclear weapons themselves and these worries are growing as a result of Khashoggi's death.

"One of the most important things we do with [Saudi Arabia] is the ability to enrich uranium, reprocess plutonium and produce nuclear energy. Added Rubio. "So it is really worrying that if a government is willing to murder a green card holder American in a third country in a diplomatic establishment, I think it's legitimate to wonder if we can trust such a government with nuclear energy and the

By potentially blocking a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia, Rubio does not think it would undermine the US president – who, he says, can send a message to the Saudi government "in such a way that a senator or congressman can not.

The Trump administration has put considerable political capital into its relations with Saudi Arabia, whose de facto head, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has implemented internal democratic reforms. But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have long been skeptical of the White House's close relations with the kingdom, and some say that relations between Congress and Saudi Arabia are the worst that the United States has. it has never been, aggravated by the constantly changing explanations of the Saudi government what exactly happened to Khashoggi, columnist of the Washington Post of the Washington Post and prominent critic of the rulers in Riyadh.

"As important as this relationship is, the price of this relationship can not be our silence or our acquiescence when they violate the norms and principles deeply rooted in the American people and embodied by our country," said Rubio, member external relations and intelligence committees. "No relationship is too heavy to fail."

Apart from the nuclear deal, lawmakers are also threatening to use their authority to block if necessary future US arms sales to Saudi Arabia, even though Trump maintains that arms sales are good for society. the US economy.

The Daily Beast reported on Wednesday that the Crown Prince had sent one of his deputies, Turki bin Faisal al-Saud, to the United States, as part of a public relations blitz for restore the image of the kingdom. Congressmen, lobbyists and UN officials have been targeted by the campaign.

Rubio said he was unaware of these efforts and had not been contacted by Saudi officials. But he said that he would tell Turki that it will be impossible for us to continue this alliance if that is what they intend to continue doing, "referring to the "barbaric" operation to kill Khashoggi.