US’ Mnuchin says talk about sanctions premature, will visit Riyadh to meet with counterpart
JERUSALEM, Oct 21 : US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday
it was premature to comment on possible US sanctions against Saudi
Arabia for the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi until an
investigation had been completed.
Mnuchin said information so far on the investigation was “a good first
step but not enough” as Riyadh faced increasing international pressure
over what happened to Khashoggi, who disappeared after he entered the
Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
US President Donald Trump, who has said the United States would consider
sanctions against Saudi Arabia, emphasized on Saturday that he was not
satisfied with the Saudis’ handling of the case.
“It would be premature to comment on sanctions and premature to comment
on really any issues until we get further down the investigation and get
to the bottom of what occurred,” Mnuchin told reporters in Jerusalem.
Mnuchin confirmed that he would not attend a Saudi investment conference
on Tuesday. However, he said he would visit Riyadh as planned for talks
with his counterpart on joint efforts to counter terrorist financing
and plans by Washington to reimpose sanctions against Iran in November.
“I did not think it was appropriate to go and speak at this conference
but we continue to have important issues with Saudi and that is why I am
going there,” Mnuchin said.
The visit, he said, was necessary as Washington prepares to reimpose sanctions against Iran.
He said he had no reason to believe that Saudi Arabia would renege on
commitments to make up for any shortfall in global oil supplies as
Iranian oil exports are curbed under the sanctions.
“I have no reason to believe that they are not going to honor those
commitments,” said Mnuchin, who will meet Saudi Energy Minister Khalid
Al-Falih while in Riyadh.
https://www.geezgo.com/sps/43725
Mnuchin said information so far on the investigation was “a good first
step but not enough” as Riyadh faced increasing international pressure
over what happened to Khashoggi, who disappeared after he entered the
Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.Join Geezgo for free. Use Geezgo's end-to-end encrypted Chat with your Closenets (friends, relatives, colleague etc) in personalized ways.>>
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