Powerful Saudi prince says no space for dialogue with Iran

FILE - In this May 14, 2012 file photo, Prince Mohammed bin Salman waits for Gulf Arab leaders ahead of the opening of Gulf Cooperation Council summit, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia's Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sat down for a rare televised interview Tuesday, May 2, 2017, evening with Saudi TV, defending his wide-reaching plans for overhauling the country's economy and offering insights into how he views the kingdom's war in Yemen and its tensions with rival Iran. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File) (The Associated Press)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Saudi Arabia's deputy crown prince says there is no space for dialogue with rival Iran due to its Shiite ambitions "to control the Islamic world."

In a rare television interview aired Tuesday on multiple Saudi TV channels, Mohammed bin Salman offered a glimpse into how he views the kingdom's top rival.

Framing the tensions in sectarian terms, he said it is Iran's goal "to control the Islamic world and that their logic is to pave the way for the arrival of al-Mahdi."

Shiite Muslims believe Mohammed al-Mahdi, the 12th and last Shiite imam, who disappeared in the 9th century, will one day reappear to bring justice to earth.

"How can I come to an understanding with this?" he said.