France announced on Wednesday that it had imposed sanctions on travel of 18 Saudis linked to the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, warning that the sanctions could include others.
"The killing of Mr. Khashoggi is a very serious crime that has also been committed against the freedom of the press and fundamental rights," the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The French Foreign Ministry demanded in its statement "to shed full light on the circumstances of the commission of this act," adding that it "expects from the Saudi authorities a transparent, detailed and comprehensive response," pointing out that the sanctions may include others on the basis of the investigation.
Earlier, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Laudrian said his country was in the process of imposing sanctions on those found to have been involved in Khashoggi's murder, adding that his country insisted on the need to know the full truth about the assassination.
The French decision coincides with Denmark's announcement to stop the renewal of arms export licenses to Saudi Arabia against the background of the Khashoggi assassination and the situation in Yemen, in addition to the positions of several European countries that recently announced a halt to arms exports to Riyadh.
The pressure on Saudi Arabia to reveal the official responsible for the killing of a Saudi journalist who spent last month at the consulate of his country in Istanbul. In this context, Reuters quoted the site of the Turkish daily Hurriyet on the Internet that the CIA has a record of a telephone call issued by Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman instructed "to silence Jamal Khashoggi as soon as possible."