Bangladesh, Sept. 23 -- Saudi Arabia remains opposed to Iran developing nuclear weapons, King Salman told world leaders on Wednesday. But he said he hopes initial talks between the Kingdom and Iranian authorities can lead to confidence-building measures.

“The Kingdom stresses the importance of making the Middle East a region free of all weapons of mass destruction,” the king said in a prerecorded speech on the second day of the high-level Annual General Debate at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. “We therefore support international efforts aimed at preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

“Iran is a neighboring state. We hope that our initial talks with Iran will lead to concrete confidence-building measu...