Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Saudi Arabia fights to rehabilitate its image after Khashoggi murder

Saudi Arabia fights to rehabilitate its image after Khashoggi murder

Senior officials from the US and EU are visiting Saudi Arabia again, and business deals are being done. Human rights activists say the Saudis have literally gotten away with murder, as well as other abuses.

Tuesday's arrest in France of one of the possible killers of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi has brought Khashoggi's gruesome murder to international attention once more. But up until now, Saudi Arabia has slowly but surely been emerging from underneath the shadow of that crime.

In October 2018, global headlines about the assassination, allegedly committed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, saw a renewed focus on the Saudis' dismal record on human rights, as well the country’s authoritarian leadership practices.

In terms of international diplomacy at least, the Saudis have been something of a pariah state for the past three years. While campaigning for the office he now holds, US President Joe Biden even described Saudi Arabia as such, saying "there was very little social redeeming value in the present government." Biden has yet to have a personal conversation with Saudi Arabia's de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

A French first


This month though, French President Emmanuel Macron did exactly that, becoming the first Western leader to visit the 36-year-old crown prince, who's often known as MBS, at home.

Macron meets MBS: In 2021 Saudi Arabia bought arms worth over €700 million from France


At the same time, Saudi Arabia was also garnering global attention last weekend by hosting a Formula One Grand Prix car race for the very first time and, this week, by opening the inaugural Red Sea International Film Festival. Until 2018, public cinemas were banned in Saudi Arabia, thanks to ultraconservative religious ideals promoted by the Saudi clergy and royal family.

The events are part of a grand plan, Vision 2030, to modernize the country socially and economically. Hundreds of millions are being poured into one of the objectives of Vision 2030, which is to bring these kinds of events and this kind of positive attention to Saudi Arabia. Human rights organizations have criticized this, claiming that it's a deliberate tactic to deflect attention from human rights abuses.

Coming in from the cold


In fact, the rehabilitation of Saudi Arabia's image and the country's return to international diplomacy has been going on for a while, Eckart Woertz, head of Hamburg's GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies, pointed out.

It is thought that Jamal Khashoggi was killed, then dismembered, at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul


"There seems to be a widespread view that, OK, we showed them the red lines — for example, that it is not acceptable to simply murder people in your consulate — and they have not appeared to cross those red lines again," Woertz told DW. "There have been no similar, high profile cases since. And that is why diplomatic and business ties are becoming more prominent again, the way they were before the Khashoggi murder."

It is also true that, at the same time as overt diplomatic relations were getting colder, there was still plenty of business being done behind the scenes. Weapons sales to Saudi Arabia by the US and France have continued, with France the biggest vendor to Saudi Arabia in 2020. Arms sales from Canada and Germany resumed last year.

Business as usual?


In January this year, the Saudi business networking event "Davos in the Desert" was well-attended — in contrast to other years when it was boycotted. In October, the Saudi king led his country's delegation to the G20 summit in Rome. In 2020, Saudi Arabia organized the G20 in Riyadh, even though, in the end, it was held virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In response to questions about his visit to a country with a reputation for carrying out the most executions in the world, including that of underage prisoners, the French president himself pointed out this very hypocrisy, noting that most G20 countries had attended the summit.

Mustafa al-Darwish was executed in 2021 for crimes allegedly committed as a child


Macron also told reporters that it would not be possible to resolve crises in the region without the Saudis onboard. For example, while in Riyadh, he and the Saudi crown prince held a three-way call with the prime minister of Lebanon to try and resolve the political crisis in the former French colonial territory.

Important interlocutor


Despite the US president avoiding a direct meeting, the Americans have also been working more regularly with Saudi Arabia. In September, the US government climate envoy, John Kerry, and the US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, both met with the Saudi crown prince, the highest ranking US officials to do so in several years.

F1 champion Lewis Hamilton said he was 'not comfortable' racing in Saudi Arabia last weekend


As analysts at the US Council on Foreign Relations wrote in February, "Saudi Arabia remains the US' primary interlocutor in the Arab world."

"Saudi Arabia is an important country within the region and a big oil exporter," GIGA's Woertz explained further. "No country in the world would throw overboard those 'realpolitik' considerations in the long term because of a murder in a consulate, no matter how horrible. There may have been a desire to isolate the Saudis for a while," he added, "but now there is definitely a notable thaw in relations."

Other Middle East analysts have pointed out that nobody wants the Saudis to look too far afield for new friends, either. "The Chinese have a lot to offer, and the Russians are particularly good at taking advantage of stress between the US and its traditional partners in the region," Foreign Policy magazine columnist Steven A. Cook pointed out earlier this year.

The site of Saudi Arabia's new and controversial 'zero emissions' city, Neom

Ignoring abuses


Obviously, none of these arguments particularly impresses human rights activists.

"While Saudi Arabia has, since 2017, introduced some landmark social and women's rights reforms and has recently announced criminal justice and labor rights reforms, this has also been the worst period of repression in Saudi Arabia's modern history," Hiba Zayadin, a Human Rights Watch researcher focused on abuses in Arab Gulf states, told DW.

The Saudi Arabian leadership continues to try and ensure the world's attention is on topics like business deals, entertainment and auto racing, she said, while at the same time silencing any dissenting voices. "When the Saudi government brutally punishes citizens and residents who dare provide honest critical feedback, it can't credibly spin proposed reforms as genuine efforts to improve people's lives," Zayadin argued.

'People are afraid'


Most analysts agree that while Vision 2030 has brought more social freedoms — such as women being allowed to drive, or venues being open to both sexes — political freedom in Saudi Arabia has in fact decreased.

"The kingdom remains an autocracy. The expansion of civil rights is a gift from the ruler rather than any response to pressure," Simon Henderson, who heads the Bernstein Program on Gulf and Energy Policy at US think tank The Washington Institute, wrote in October.

The Red Sea International Film Festival: Deflecting attention or genuine support for creative industries?


Ali Adubisi, director of the Berlin-based European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, agreed. "A while ago, there were still some people who could criticize the Saudi government publicly," he reported. But that has changed.

"People are afraid. Some of those who criticized the country's economic policy a while back are now behind bars. Action like this by the authorities obviously intimidates a lot of people," Adubisi concluded.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
Germany Enters Fiscal Crisis as Cabinet Approves €174 Billion in New Debt
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Mediators Edge Closer to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Germany Seeks Taliban Deal to Deport Afghan Migrants
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
×