Following the release of the declassified US intelligence report on the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, there are signs that the US sanctions on the kingdom — alongside US efforts to reenter the Iran deal — could drive Saudi Arabia and China closer together.
The report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, released in late February, said US intelligence “assess[ed] that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture or kill” Khashoggi.