Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Faisal bin Farhan, said no meeting between Saudi Arabia and Israeli officials took place. Saudi Arabia is denying reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Gulf kingdom on Sunday.

In their briefly secret meeting in Neom, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman agreed on the common threat from Iran, but did not make progress toward normalization.

Major foreign companies left Iran after US President Donald Trump two years ago abandoned Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and restored economic sanctions. Iran expects foreign companies to return to the country if US sanctions are lifted under President-elect Joe Biden and some firms have made initial contacts …