The White House said on Wednesday that it was looking to work with Congress on assessing Washington’s ties with Riyadh. Lawmakers have offered up a number of measures, including halting weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and opening up Opec to litigation in the US.

“In recent weeks, the Saudis conveyed to us – privately and publicly – their intention to reduce oil production, which they knew would increase Russian revenues and blunt the effectiveness of sanctions,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday.

He added that other Opec members told the US privately they disagreed with Riyadh’s decision, “but felt coerced to support Saudi’s direction”.

Kirby’s statement came after a defiant Saudi press release that expressed its “total rejection” of the outpouring of condemnation from the US and accused the Biden administration of asking the Saudis to delay the production cut until after the midterm elections in the United States.

Alaoudh, who belongs to the Democracy in the Arab World Now group set up by Khashoggi, said on Twitter that Saud al-Shaalan’s video showed “a direct cousin” of Mohammed bin Salman threatening the West with “jihad and martyrdom”.

However, Saudi lobbyist Ali Shihabi said the prince was a minor royal with no official role.