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A US intelligence report on the murder of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which has previously been kept under lock and key, threatens to become an explosive device in relations between Washington and Riyadh on Friday.
In the explosive report by the CIA, which was imminent to be published, the powerful Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is accused of being involved in the murder, according to the US media.
Ex-US President Donald Trump had previously prevented a publication and tried to establish good relations with bin Salman.
Trump's successor Joe Biden called the Saudi Arabian King Salman on Thursday.
The eagerly awaited report came about a month after the murder of Khashoggi in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. According to the Washington Post newspaper, the CIA believes it is very likely that the Crown Prince personally ordered the murder.
The secret service cites several hard evidence for this.
A bugged phone call is part of the evidence
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These include a phone call tapped by the US secret services between the Crown Prince and his brother Chalid bin Salman, the Saudi Ambassador to Washington.
During the conversation, the Crown Prince called on his brother to suggest that Khashoggi travel to Istanbul so that he could collect documents there for his planned wedding.
Another key point of the evidence is a video from the Turkish secret service that documents the crime inside the Saudi Arabian consulate.
The recordings helped identify the perpetrators and kept communication with the government in Riyadh.
Khashoggi was murdered by a 15-man squad.
Under international pressure, Riyadh admitted, after weeks of denials, that the journalist critical of the government had been killed "in an unsuccessful mission to arrest him".
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Biden's predecessor Trump had maintained a close relationship with Riyadh, which was not significantly affected by the murder of Khashoggi.
He stopped the CIA report from being published during his tenure.
Biden is taking a harder course
Meanwhile, Biden is taking a tougher course against Riyadh.
In his first phone call since taking office with King Salman on Thursday, Biden underlined the importance his government attaches to "universal human rights and the rule of law," the White House said.
The US president assured the Saudi monarch that the United States would stand on the side of the kingdom in the face of rocket attacks by pro-Iranian groups.
The official Saudi Arabian news agency SPA reported that the king and Biden had highlighted "the depth of the relationship" between their countries.
They also talked about Iran's “destabilizing activities” in the Middle East and its “support for terrorist groups”.