CAIRO: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad held talks in Cairo with his Egyptian counterpart Mohamed Morsi on the divisive issue of Syria's war, as he kicked off the first day of his three-day visit to Egypt on Tuesday. Ahmedinejad is the first president of Iran to visit Egypt since 1979.

Soon after being welcomed by President Morsi at Cairo airport, the two leaders held discussions on regional developments and discussed “how to end the bloodshed in Syria ... without military intervention,” MENA news agency said.

Egypt and Iran stand on opposite sides regarding the conflict that ravaged Syria for almost two years, leaving more than 60,000 people dead according to the United Nations (UN).

Tehran is committed to the survival of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his regime. It has supplied financial aid and admitted to sending Revolutionary Guards military advisers to Damascus. Egypt's Morsi, however, sided with Syria's rebels, whom he sees as upholding the revolutionary ideals that brought him and his Muslim Brotherhood to power after the Arab Spring.

Ahmadinejad had earlier indicated that strengthening bilateral ties with Cairo would be the main aim of his visit.

“If Tehran and Cairo see more eye to eye on regional and international matters, many (issues) will change,” he told reporters, according to Iran's official IRNA news agency.

During their talks, Ahmadinejad and Morsi discussed “ways to boost relations between Egypt and Iran,” said MENA, Egypt's state-run news agency.

“I will try to pave the ground for developing cooperation between Iran and Egypt,” Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by IRNA.

Without elaborating, he said the visit would “definitely influence the bilateral ties” between Tehran and Cairo.

Tehran severed relations with Cairo in 1980 in protest at a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel by then Egyptian president Anwar Sadat.

Egypt has responded cautiously to Iran’s efforts to revive ties, since Morsi took power in 2012, due to their differences over Syria.

President of world’s largest Shiite population, Ahmedinejad is also expected to visit the prestigious Al-Azhar institute of Sunni Islam, sources in Al-Azhar said.

During his three-day visit, the Iranian president will attend an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation conference in Cairo and hold talks with Egyptian officials, Iranian media said ahead of his trip.