TEHRAN – In an indirect reference by Saudi Arabia which has tacitly admitted it has ties with Israel, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that an acknowledgement by “certain regional countries” for having ties with Israel is “painful”.

Saudi Arabia and Israel have no formal diplomatic relations but there have long been rumors and reports of the two sides secretly working together.

Telegraph reported on November 20 that Yuval Steinitz, Israel’s energy minister, confirmed there had been contact between Israel and Saudi Arabia but said that Riyadh was eager to keep the cooperation a secret.

“The bitter part of recent developments is some regional countries’ boldness in cooperating with the Zionist regime of Israel,” he said during a speech at the opening ceremony of 31st International Islamic Unity Conference.

“In the past, some of these countries used to deny covert talks and cooperation with the enemies of the region, and ties with Israel were so evil and detestable that no head of state could consider Israel a friend of the region and the ‘axis of resistance’ enemy,” he said.

He noted that animosity towards the axis of resistance is a plot that will be foiled.

NA/PA