The Biden administration faced tough questions and growing pressure to punish Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi after the U.

S sanctions some Saudi officials but not the crown prince.

We reserve the right to take any action at a time and manner of our choosing.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Monday that the US could sanction the crown prince in the future if necessary, if necessary.

At the State Department, spokesman Ned Price said the US was focused on fixing quote systemic issues in Saudi Arabia and improving its human rights record rather than sanctioning its de facto ruler.

We are very focused on future conduct and that is part of why we have cast this not as a rupture but a recalibration, both price and sake said.

The U.

S sanctions spared the crown prince himself in an effort to preserve relations with the kingdom.

I am calling all the U.

S.

Government to act, but U.

N human rights investigator Agnes Callum ARD said earlier on Monday that it was extremely dangerous for the us to have named the crown prince and a declassified report as having approved the operation to capture or kill the Washington Post journalist, but not to have taken action against him.

It is extremely, um, in my view, problematic if not dangerous.

The 35 year old prince has denied any involvement in the 2018 killing, for which eight people were jailed in Saudi Arabia last year.

The kingdom's U.

N.

Ambassador said on Monday that the U.

S intelligence report that implicated the crown prince and the killing had presented no firm evidence, but added quote, the prince courageously accepted moral responsibility, presented the accused to the justice system and pledged to reform the intelligence organizations case closed.