US Senate vows to impose concrete sanctions on Saudi over Yemen war, Khashoggi’s murder

A group of US Senators led by Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, and Senator Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat have vowed to pound Saudi Arabia with concrete sanctions over the war in Yemen and the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The proposition came after the US Senate moved to vote on Thursday on a resolution condemning Saudi for its conduct with plans to advance legislation imposing financial penalties and prohibiting arms sales on the kingdom when the new Congress begins in January.

The group of senators also signaled they would like to see Saudi Arabia remove Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from power.

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“To our friends in Saudi Arabia, you are never going to have a relationship with the United States Senate unless things change. And it’s up to you to figure out what that change needs to be,” Graham, a congressional ally of President Donald Trump, told reporters at a Capitol Hill press conference.

“From my point of view, the current construct is not working. There is a relationship between countries and individuals. The individual, the crown prince, is so toxic, so tainted, so flawed that I can’t ever see myself doing business in the future with Saudi Arabia unless there is a change there,” Graham said.

The move by the Senators comes a day after President Donald Trump says he is backing Saudi Crown Prince despite the comments by the CIA claiming the Saudi leader had a hand in the murder of Khashoggi.

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