Iran's president says he held first talks with UAE official since war began

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said he held productive talks with a senior official from the United Arab Emirates on the margins of the BRICS summit in New Delhi, describing the meeting as the first of its kind since the outbreak of war.

In remarks broadcast on Iranian state television after his return to Tehran, Pezeshkian said he met Abu Dhabi's crown prince, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed, while attending the summit in the Indian capital.

"For the first time after these events really – war and the problems in the Persian Gulf that we've had – with the crown prince of the, well, it'd be the Emirates? Of Abu Dhabi. We had a good talk with the crown prince of Abu Dhabi," he said.

"We talked about the issues of concern so that it's possible to put the past behind us, to look toward the future and how we can build the future together," Pezeshkian added.

The comments were filmed in New Delhi and aired live on Iranian state television following his return home.

Iran has fired missiles and drones at the Gulf country, a close ally of Washington, since the start of the war with the United States and Israel.

Pezeshkian also said he spoke briefly with the leaders of Russia and China on the sidelines of the summit, as well as with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.

He described the exchange with the Egyptian leader as warm, saying el-Sissi expressed sympathy, camaraderie and concern about the situation.

Iran and Egypt had been moving toward restoring diplomatic relations before the war broke out on February 28.