Follow us on social

49517942356_438c0185f1_k

Ilhan Omar wants MBS sanctioned under Magnitsky Act

The Minnesota Democrat doesn't think there's been enough done to punish the Saudi Crown Prince for Jamal Khashoggi's murder.

North America

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D–Minn.) has proposed an amendment that could expose Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s private businesses to sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act.

Omar’s amendment would strengthen the Khashoggi Accountability Act, currently up for consideration by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, to include potential economic penalties on Saudi officials.

In February, the Biden administration declassified a U.S. intelligence report on the assassination of Saudi-American journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The report points the finger at the crown prince, often known by his initials MBS, but the Biden administration has declined to impose sanctions on him, citing the need to preserve the U.S.-Saudi relationship.

In response, Omar and Rep. Tom Malinowski (D–N.J.) proposed bills that would force the administration to move against the crown prince.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee chose last week to move forward with Malinowski’s Khashoggi Accountability Act, which imposes a travel ban but not economic penalties on Saudi officials mentioned in the U.S. intelligence report on Khashoggi’s murder.

Omar’s amendment to that bill would require the U.S. State Department to issue a report within six months all private organizations and businesses owned in whole or in part by those officials, including MBS.

The State Department would have to certify whether those organizations played a role in Khashoggi’s murder or “any other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights,” and whether those organizations are subject to sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.

The Global Magnitsky Act, passed in 2016 in memory of a lawyer who died in Russian police custody, imposes economic penalties and a visa ban on foreign officials “responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.”

As Responsible Statecraft had previously reported, two private planes owned by the Saudi government’s sovereign wealth fund were used to transport the kill team that eventually murdered Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

In addition to Malinowski’s bill, the Saudi government is also facing a lawsuit from Khashoggi’s widow and a human rights organization founded by Khashoggi before his death.

“In practice, this will be a way to create real consequences for MbS and other Saudi officials who were involved in the Khashoggi murder beyond what they’ve got so far,” Jeremy Slevin, a spokesperson for Omar’s office, wrote in an email to Responsible Statecraft.


Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) (Flicker/Creative Commons/Gage Skidmore)
North America
Diplomacy Watch Donald Trump Putin Zelensky
Top Photo Credit: Diplomacy Watch (Khody Akhavi)

Macron fails to get Europe to send troops to Ukraine

QiOSK

European leaders met this week at the behest of French President Emmanuel Macron, who wants to solidify a plan to send troops to Ukraine as a security package. However, the meetings emerged, according to the Wall Street Journal, “without a public commitment from other European countries to send troops.”

France and the United Kingdom have been pushing for troops on the ground in Ukraine, and other countries, like Sweden, Denmark, and Australia, have indicated a willingness to do so as well. The main hurdle appears to be that most are apparently unwilling to send their armed forces to Ukraine without the protection of the United States.

keep readingShow less
Donald Trump
Top image credit: Andrew Harnik / Shutterstock.com

The war over war with Iran has just begun

Middle East

The war drums are getting louder in Washington.

In recent weeks, many of the same neoconservative voices who pushed the U.S. into Iraq are calling for strikes on Iran. Groups like the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy are once again promoting confrontation, claiming there may never be a better time to act. But this is a dangerous illusion that risks derailing what Donald Trump himself says he wants: a deal, not another disastrous war in the Middle East.

keep readingShow less
Golden Dome Iron Dome
Top Image Credit: Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets after Iran fired a salvo of ballistic missiles, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, October 1, 2024 REUTERS/Amir Cohen TPX

Saying the quiet part out loud: All that glitters is not 'Golden Dome'

Military Industrial Complex

As the Trump administration proceeds full speed ahead on its Golden Dome missile defense project, U.S. officials and engineering experts alike suggest it's a next to impossible undertaking.

Gen. Michael Guetlein, Space Force vice chief, likened Golden Dome to the WWII-era Manhattan project, which created the atom bomb. Acting DoD official Steven J. Morani called it a “monster systems engineering problem.” Trump himself compared it to President Ronald Reagan’s 1983 Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), or “Star Wars,” a space-based defense system that never made it past the drawing board.

keep readingShow less

Trump transition

Latest

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.