Why Biden has given MBS immunity over the Khashoggi killing

For US President Joe Biden, Saudi Arabia is the problem that never goes away. First came his decision to refrain from slapping penalties on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) following the kidnapping and murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, a former Saudi royal insider who became increasingly critical of the ruling family (the Biden administration did place travel restrictions on 76 other Saudi officials and sanctioned the elite Saudi intelligence force that carried out the operation).

Then, in November last year, the White House notified Congress of its first arms deal with the kingdom, a $650 million sale of missiles that caused heartburn in some corners of the president’s own party. Then came Biden’s highly controversial visit to the kingdom this summer, made worse after Riyadh pressured OPEC+ less than three months later to cut oil production by 2 million barrels per day.