Iran Press/ America: In a lengthy statement, US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Washington stands with Riyadh in the wake of the slaying of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
US President said that we may never know all of the facts surrounding Khashoggi's murder, but our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Iran Press reported.
In a statement issued on Tuesday – which begins with the words "The world is a very dangerous place!" – Trump quotes Saudi officials as describing Khashoggi as an “enemy of the state”.
The 649-word statement appears to be a presidential act of defiance against the CIA, which has reportedly concluded that the Saudi prince ordered the killing, and the Senate, which is considering bipartisan legislation that would suspend weapons sales to Saudi Arabia among other punitive measures.
Trump added that US intelligence agencies are still assessing all the information surrounding the killing of Khashoggi.
The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reported on Friday that Saudi Crown Prince ordered the gruesome murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul last month.
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"It could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event," Trump said in the statement, though "maybe he did and maybe he didn't!"
In remarks outside the White House before departing for the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump said the CIA had "nothing definitive" on the crown prince's involvement.
The kingdom is a "steadfast partner" that has agreed to invest a record amount of money in the US, Trump said in a statement.
US president acknowledged Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman "could very well" have known about Khashoggi's murder.
"In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," Trump added.
Turkish Hürriyet newspaper reported earlier that Turkey has more evidence, including a second, longer audio recording that contradicts with key claims of the Saudi public prosecutor’s and indictment against the suspected murderers of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
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Meanwhile, US president's written statement sparked a bipartisan backlash among congressional lawmakers.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said in a statement that Trump's apparent decision not to punish the Saudi crown prince "is offensive to every value the United States holds dear."
Sen. Feinstein added she plans to vote against future arms sales and appropriation to Saudi Arabia, and called for sanctions against the crown prince and the removal of the Saudi ambassador to the U.S.
At least five members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee also criticized the decision in Twitter statements.
On Oct 16, 2018 Turkish media based on first audio leaks reported that Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed by being gradually dismembered by a Saudi assassination squad tied to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman inside Saudi consulate.
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Jamal Khashoggi once close aid of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and later active critic and dissident of al-Saud regime entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October and never exit.
The Saudi government denied Khashoggi's killing for more than two weeks, but eventually admitted on 20 October that Khashoggi had been murdered in the consulate during an interrogation by 'rogue operatives that had gone wrong' after diplomatic pressure grew on the Kingdom to give an account of the mysterious fate of its national. 101/201
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