Saudi Arabia has rejected reports that its representatives attended an expanded meeting in Abu Dhabi involving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The UAE later confirmed the meeting through its state news agency, WAM. His office did not initially announce the visit.
The official also said Riyadh’s position on Israel had not changed. The discussions centred on security cooperation, Iran, Yemen’s Houthis and regional defence systems, according to those reports. It said the two leaders discussed bilateral relations and ways to strengthen ties between Israel and the UAE. Netanyahu reportedly travelled on a private aircraft and remained in Abu Dhabi for several hours before returning to Israel, according to AFP. “The ministry of foreign affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns the visit of Benjamin Netanyahu, the child-killing and war-mongering Prime Minister of the Zionist regime, to the United Arab Emirates and warns of the highly dangerous consequences of the presence of the occupying regime in the region,” the ministry said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
A Saudi official told AFP on Tuesday that no Saudi representatives took part in any such discussions following the meeting between Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed. Israeli media had reported that Saudi officials were present at a wider meeting held after Netanyahu’s talks with the UAE president on Sunday. Netanyahu travelled to Abu Dhabi on Sunday for an unannounced one-day visit and met Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, according to Israeli officials.
