A handout picture provided by the Saudi Press Agency SPA on Nov. 11, 2024, shows Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman addressing the joint extraordinary leaders summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League in Riyadh. (Credit: AFP Photo/HO/Saudi Press Agency SPA)
Saudi Arabia's crown prince and de facto ruler condemned what he called the "genocide" committed by Israel against Palestinians during a speech at a summit of leaders of Muslim and Arab countries in Riyadh on Monday.
"The Kingdom renews its condemnation and categorical rejection of the genocide committed by Israel against the brotherly Palestinian people," Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) said at an Arab Islamic summit, echoing comments by Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud late last month.
He urged the international community to stop Israel from attacking Iran and to respect Iran's sovereignty.
The crown prince said in September the kingdom would not recognize Israel unless a Palestinian state were created.
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration had sought to broker a normalization accord between Saudi Arabia and Israel that would have included U.S. security guarantees for the kingdom, among other bilateral deals between Washington and Riyadh.
Those normalization efforts were put on ice after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas militants from Gaza and Israel's subsequent retaliation.
Israel's military assault on Gaza in the last 13 months has killed tens of thousands, displaced nearly its entire population, caused a hunger crisis and led to allegations of genocide at the World Court, which Israel denies.
'Israel must not attack Iran'
MBS called on Israel to respect Iran's sovereignty and refrain from attacking Iranian soil, highlighting warming ties between the Middle East rivals.
He told a summit of Arab and Muslim leaders that the international community should oblige Israel "to respect the sovereignty of the sisterly Islamic Republic of Iran and not to violate its lands."
Sunni Muslim-majority Saudi Arabia and Shiite-majority Iran have often found themselves on opposing sides of regional conflicts including Syria's civil war.
In 2015, Saudi Arabia mobilized a military coalition to support Yemen's internationally recognized government after Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized the capital Sanaa and advanced towards the main southern city of Aden.
The following year, Riyadh and Tehran severed ties following attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran during protests over Riyadh's execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
In March 2023, however, they announced a rapprochement deal brokered by China.
Though issues remain in the complex relationship, the rapprochement amounts to a signature diplomatic achievement for Prince Mohammed, who has taken a more conciliatory approach to regional diplomacy in recent years.
Saudi Arabia and Iran have maintained high-level contact as part of efforts to contain the war that broke out in Gaza following Hamas's unprecedented attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7 last year.
This diplomatic outreach led to the first phone call between Prince Mohammed and Iran's then-president Ebrahim Raisi — just five days after the war broke out — and a visit by Raisi to Riyadh a year ago for a joint summit of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
In October, Saudi Arabia announced it had held military exercises with Iran and other countries in the Sea of Oman.
On Sunday, Saudi Arabia's top military official, Fayyad al-Ruwaili, arrived in Tehran for talks with Iranian officials.
Prince Mohammed and Iran's current president, Masoud Pezeshkian, spoke by phone on Sunday ahead of Monday's summit, which is a follow-up to the gathering in November 2023.
Pezeshkian is not attending because of pressing "executive matters," an Iranian government statement said, and First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref traveled to Riyadh instead.