Iran accuses S Arabia of 'stabbing' Palestine by seeking ties with Israel

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has accused Saudi Arabia of betraying the Palestinians by seeking to normalise relations with Israel.

"The initiation of a relationship between the Zionist regime and any country in the region, if it is with the aim to bring security for the Zionist regime, will certainly not do so," Raisi told a news conference on Wednesday as he attended the UN General Assembly.

"We believe that a relationship between regional countries and the Zionist regime would be a stab in the back of the Palestinian people and of the resistance of the Palestinians," he said.

Saudi Arabia and Israel have bonded in part over shared hostility to Iran, although Riyadh has moved to ease tensions with Tehran through talks brokered by China.

Palestinian issue

Iran's reaction came after Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said that US-brokered talks are moving forward on normalisation with Israel in an interview with Fox News.

"Every day we get closer," Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, said.

"For us, the Palestinian issue is very important. We need to solve that part," MBS said when asked what it would take to get a normalisation agreement.

"And we have good negotiations continue until now."

Few Arab countries have diplomatic relations with Israel.

Egypt and Jordan were the first to recognise Israel by signing separate treaties in 1979 and 1991, respectively.

In 2020, as part of the Abraham Accords, four other countries normalised ties with Israel, including Morocco, the United Arab Emirates [UAE], Bahrain and Sudan.