"We hope the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will not give in to political pressures," it reported Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi as saying on his return from a visit to Syria, Bulgaria and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

"The United States and certain western countries are trying to steer the decision by the board of governors towards political objectives," he said. "Iran wants to cooperate with the IAEA to help it reach decisions based on facts."

The 35-member board of governors is meet Friday on adopting a resolution giving Iran until October 31 to prove it is not seeking secretly to develop nuclear weapons.

A resolution sponsored by Canada, Japan and the IAEA calls on Tehran to clarify its nuclear programme "by the end of October" and to "suspend all its uranium enrichment activities."

WAR.WIRE