A group of Republicans, including Sen. Marco Rubio, sent a letter to President Trump urging him to cut off nuclear talks with Saudi Arabia following the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Turkey, according to a report on Wednesday.
The five GOP lawmakers said they had concerns about cooperating with the kingdom before Khashoggi’s death on Oct. 2 and those worries have been exacerbated by doubts about the royal ruling family’s leadership, NBC News reported.
“The ongoing revelations about the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as well as certain Saudi actions related to Yemen and Lebanon, have raised further serious concerns about the transparency, accountability, and judgment of current decision makers in Saudi Arabia,” NBC, which obtained a copy of the letter, reported. “We therefore request that you suspend any related negotiations for a U.S.-Saudi civil nuclear agreement for the foreseeable future.”
Along with Rubio, the letter was signed by Sens. Cory Gardner of Colorado, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Dean Heller of Nevada and Todd Young of Indiana.
The Trump administration has been involved in negotiations with Saudi Arabia since February over a pact known as the “123 agreement” that sets the terms for how the US shares nonmilitary “nuclear energy technology, equipment and materials with other countries,” according to the Arms Control Association.
The oil-rich country has said it wants to use nuclear power to diversify its energy resources and has plans to build 16 nuclear plants over the next 20 to 25 years — projects that could mean billions of dollars for American companies.
The letter comes as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for Saudi Arabia to halt its military operations in Yemen and for the United Nations to begin negotiations to end the fighting, Reuters reported.
Saudi Arabia, backed by US weapons, has been engaged in fighting in the Middle East’s poorest country that has created a humanitarian crisis.
Khashoggi, whose writings for the Washington Post were critical of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, disappeared after entering the consulate to get paperwork so he could marry his fiancee.
Saudi officials offered a variety of explanations for his death before finally acknowledging last week that a 15-man security team planned the writer’s killing in advance.