Saudi Arabia on Sunday vowed to retaliate against any threats from the United States after President Trump said Riyadh would suffer “severe consequences” if it turns out they were behind the disappearance of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi from the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

“The Kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether by threatening to impose economic sanctions, using political pressures, or repeating false accusations,” the official Saudi Press Agency said.

“The Kingdom also affirms that if it receives any action, it will respond with greater action, and that the Kingdom’s economy has an influential and vital role in the global economy,” it continued.

Grant Thornton chief economist Diane Swonk read the Saudi statement as a threat to rein in oil production and thereby push global energy prices higher.

Trump said the Oct. 2 disappearance of Khashoggi, who wrote for the Washington Post and was critical of the Saudi royal family, was being investigated.

“As of this moment, they deny it, and they deny it vehemently. Could it be them? Yes,” he told CBS’s “60 Minutes” in a snippet of an interview that will air Sunday evening. “We’re going to get to the bottom of it, and there will be severe punishment.”

See:Senate triggers sanctions probe after disappearance of Saudi journalist

Khashoggi, who was born in Saudi Arabia but has been in self-imposed exile in the United States for the past year after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman cracked down on dissidents, vanished after entering the consulate in Istanbul to get paperwork so he could marry his fiancée.

He wasn’t seen leaving.

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Turkish officials said he was killed by a 15-member hit squad that arrived from Riyadh the same day and his body was removed from the country.

This report previously appeared at NYPost.com.

New York Post wire services and the MarketWatch newsroom contributed to this report.

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