Following the release of the  declassified US intelligence report on the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, there are signs that the US sanctions on the kingdom — alongside US efforts to reenter the Iran deal — could drive Saudi Arabia and China closer together.

The report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, released in late February, said US intelligence “assess[ed] that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture or kill” Khashoggi.

While no sanctions were imposed on the crown prince, the Saudi Royal Guard’s rapid intervention force and a former Saudi intelligence chief were put on the sanctions list. In addition, around 76 Saudi individuals suspected of having been facilitators in the crime were barred from acquiring US visas.

Sanctioning MBS could have rattled th US-Saudi strategic partnership at risk, and had implications for Washington’s foreign policy objectives in the Middle East. As Secretary of State Antony Blinken observed, “The relationship with Saudi Arabia is bigger than any one individual.”