CAIRO - Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on Monday affirmed the need to establish a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.

He made the remarks during a meeting in Cairo with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. During the meeting, Grossi commended Egypt's dynamic and historic role in the field of disarmament.

Speaking at a televised joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty later, Grossi said, "When it comes to nuclear issues, everything should be peaceful."

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Meanwhile, Abdelatty voiced support for any peaceful and political settlement to the Iranian nuclear issue, adding that military escalation does not serve regional stability.

In another televised press conference with his Iranian counterpart Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Abdelatty said the two sides discussed regional security and ways to achieve stability by settling the Palestinian question.

He added that the expanded talks also covered the Iranian nuclear issue and highlighted Egypt's commitment to preventing further regional escalation.

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Araghchi, for his part, emphasized that both Egypt and Iran are important countries in the region and play a pivotal role in promoting regional peace and stability.

Iran on Saturday dismissed a report by the UN nuclear watchdog as "politically motivated and lacking balance," saying it failed to "accurately reflect the scale of Tehran's cooperation" with the IAEA.

In a joint statement issued by the Iranian Foreign Ministry and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Tehran criticized the report -- compiled by Grossi at the request of the agency's 35-member Board of Governors -- as misleading.