“Iran’s persistent failure to comply with its obligations under UN Security Council resolutions and to meet the requirements of the IAEA Board of Governors resolutions is a cause of urgent concern,” the G8 Foreign Ministers Meeting Chair's Statement said.

“However, noting the prospective resumption of talks between Iran and the E3+3 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union High Representative), the Ministers emphasized their desire for a peaceful and negotiated resolution to the nuclear issue,” it said.

“They urged Iran to enter into a sustained process of constructive and serious dialogue without precondition on the basis of reciprocity and a step-by-step approach to restore international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program,” the statement said.

Western countries suspect Iran’s nuclear program to be a clandestine weapons program while Iran says it only needs nuclear research to generate energy.

The Iran Six, which consists of Russia, Britain, Germany, China, the United States and France, have been seeking to persuade Iran since 2003 to halt its uranium enrichment program which they suspect may threaten the nuclear non-proliferation regime.

The latest round of talks on the issue took place in Istanbul in January but brought no results. Catherine Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy chief, expressed frustration over the results and the international nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, said Iran had failed to provide evidence that its program was exclusively for peaceful purposes.