Egypt and Iran held rare talks at senior official level in Cairo on Tuesday and Egypt said dialogue would continue on restoring full diplomatic relations, broken off after the Iranian revolution in 1979.

One diplomat, who asked not to be named, said Iran would seek Egyptian support on its nuclear program, which Tehran says is peaceful. Egypt has a seat on the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Western powers, led by the United States, accuse Iran of using its nuclear power program as a screen for development of nuclear arms.