King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia promised Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that he never would recognize Israel, the Iranian news agency has asserted. The reported promise came in a phone conversation between Ahmadinejad and the king on Sunday night.

Ahmadinejad told King Abdullah that "the Zionist regime has been constantly killing Palestinian women and children during the past 60 years, and their ongoing atrocities are indicative of their insistence on committing crimes." He also accused the United States of being an accomplice to "Zionist crimes."