Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Waleed Al-Khuraiji, said on Wednesday that the elimination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran was a "blatant violation" of Iran's sovereignty, Reuters reported.
Al-Khuraiji made the comments during an extraordinary meeting of members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). They were the first comments by the kingdom Haniyeh’s elimination last week.
Al-Khuraiji added that Saudi Arabia rejects "any violation of the sovereignty of states or interference in the internal affairs of any country".
Iran and Saudi Arabia were longtime regional rivals, but agreed to normalize relations last year as part of a China-brokered deal.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry officially announced last June that it would reopen its diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia in the wake of the agreement.
Despite the normalization with Iran, Saudi Arabia and Israel appeared to be on track towards normalization before Hamas’ October 7 attack against Israel and the war in Gaza which followed.
Shortly after the start of the war in Gaza, sources told Reuters that Saudi Arabia is putting the US-backed plans to normalize ties with Israel on ice.
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister later indicated that normalization with Israel requires both an end to the fighting in the Gaza Strip as well as the establishment of a Palestinian state, which Saudi officials have long insisted is a condition for normalization with Israel.
Last month, American and Israeli officials familiar with the normalization talks told Ynet that normalization “is no longer a realistic possibility until after the US presidential elections in November."