King Abdullah: We have an outstanding relationship with the Saudis and we are committed to their defense.

:: Jordan’s King Abdullah II said on Monday that his country is committed to the defense of Saudi Arabia, amid heightened escalation in the region.

In an exclusive interview with MSNBC, King Abdullah said, when asked about the escalating conflict in the Arabian Gulf and the stalemate of Middle East Peace between Israel and the Palestinians: “We have had our issues and challenges with Iran, and again for us the attacks on Saudi Arabia is of tremendous importance to Jordan. We have an outstanding relationship with the Saudis and we are committed to their defense.”

The Jordanian King who is in New York to attend the UN General Assembly told MSNBC veteran journalist Andrea Mitchel that in the past six months “if not more” many countries, including Jordan, “have been trying to caution escalation and calm things down.”

“Obviously, the attack on Aramco has upped the ante and this is a very important week in New York, where all of us are trying to figure out how to step away from the brink of war,” said Jordan’s King.

As to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, King Abdullah said: “If the policy is to annex the West Bank, then that is going to have a major impact on the Israeli-Jordanian relationship and also in the Egyptian-Israeli relationship because we are the two only Arab countries that have peace with Israel.”

The Jordan News Agency (Petra) will be publishing the full interview on Tuesday.