Iran claims ‘U.S. support’ led to Jamal Khashoggi’s assassination

Iran’s president is seizing on Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi’s death to criticize the U.S., claiming in his first major remarks on the matter that Saudi Arabia thought it could get away with the writer’s “brutal killing” because it’s a close ally of Washington.

“I don’t think that the country dared to commit such a crime without U.S. support,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in remarks to his cabinet in Tehran on Wednesday, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency.

Mr. Rohouani went on to claim that the same goes for Saudi Arabia’s ongoing military campaign in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition backed by Washington is battling Iran-supported rebels. He argued that Saudi Arabia is emboldened to carry out human rights abuses in Yemen as long as it has U.S. support.

Speculation has risen in recent days that the Trump administration may consider withdrawing support for the Saudi campaign in Yemen as retribution for the Saudi royal family’s alleged involvement in the Oct. 2 disappearance of Mr. Khashoggi at a Saudi consulate in Turkey.

President Trump has resisted jumping to conclusions on the issue, although he has said the U.S. will exact “severe” punishment, likely in the form of sanctions, against any Saudis found to be involved in Mr. Khashoggi’s death. The writer was a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and had been living in self-imposed exile in the U.S.

The crown prince along with his father, Saudi King Salman, and other top Saudi officials have vehemently denied allegations in the Turkish media that the royal family ordered Mr. Khashoggi assassinated — asserting instead that the dissident writer died in a “fist fight” gone wrong at the Istanbul consulate.

The Saudis say they’ve arrested 18 people as part of an investigation into the case.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed in a speech Tuesday that Mr. Khashoggi’s death was a “planned” assassination carried out by a 15-man squad of Saudi operatives. Mr. Erdogan said Saudi authorities have “taken an important step” in confirming Mr. Khashoggi’s death after denying any knowledge of it for more than two weeks.

“Now we ask Saudi authorities to work hard to reveal the names of those involved, from the bottom to the top,” Mr. Erdogan said.

Saudi Crown Prince Salman was expected to make his first public remarks on the matter Wednesday.