Iran on Sunday denied reports that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad discussed with Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz the Arab peace plan during their recent talks, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Deputy head of the Presidential Office Media Department Ehsan Jahan-Dideh said that no reference was made to the issue during the talks in Riyadh.

The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported earlier that in the talks, Ahmadinejad voiced support for the peace plan, which was approved at the Beirut Arab summit in 2002.

The plan calls for the full normalization of ties between Israel and the Arab world in return for a complete Israeli withdrawal from all lands captured in the 1967 Six-Day War.

The plan also urges Israel to allow the return of Palestinian refugees and compensate those who do not want to return.

Ahmadinejad paid a one-day visit to Saudi Arabia on Saturday during which he met with the king to discuss the latest developments in the Middle East.

SPA said that the two leaders agreed to fight sectarian strife in the Middle East during their talks.

"The two leaders asserted that the greatest danger threatening the Muslim nation at the present time is the attempt to spread strife between Sunni and Shiite Muslims and that efforts should be exerted to stop such attempts and close ranks," SPA said.

They also voiced support for Iraq's government, its national unity and the "equality of its citizens," it said.

The Iranian president said that his country supported Riyadh's efforts to calm down the situation in Lebanon and resolve the political crisis there, said the report.

Ahmadinejad's visit to Riyadh came at a time when Lebanon is suffering a political crisis and sectarian bloodshed still persists in Iraq.

It also precedes a conference of Iraq's neighbors in Baghdad on March 10 and an Arab summit in Riyadh in late March.

Source: Xinhua