DHAKA: World powers will refrain from raising pressure on Iran at a UN nuclear meeting next week to give its new moderate president time to show he is serious about moves to reduce tensions over its atomic activity.

Western diplomats say, reports The Jerusalem Post.

But they stressed that concrete progress is needed soon in the dispute: talks on September 27 between Iran and UN nuclear inspectors will be scrutinised for any sign that the new Iranian government will be more transparent and less confrontational as president Hassan Rohani has pledged.

Iran says its nuclear energy programme is for electricity generation and medical uses only, rejecting Western accusations it is covertly trying to develop the capability to make bombs.

The June election of Rohani as president, succeeding conservative hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has stirred hopes that it may be possible to resolve a decade-old dispute and avert the threat of a new Middle East war.

BDST: 2028 HRS, SEPT 05, 2013
RoR/Jck