Italy said on Wednesday that diplomacy and not force was the only way to resolve Iran's nuclear standoff with the West.

Italian Foreign Minister and Deputy Premier Massimo D'Alema told reporters that "Italy does not want Iran to have nuclear weapons but the solution must be found on a political level and through negotiations," according to Italian News Agency ANSA.

The former premier said that he hoped "tensions" between the United States and Iran could be overcome and that talks between the European Union and Tehran would "open the path to a peaceful, negotiated solution" to the crisis.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani are due to meet in Vienna later this week.

In a separate interview published on Wednesday by Catholic weekly Famiglia Cristiana, D'Alema said that "this is an uncertainperiod in which Iran must be encouraged to make a positive choice ... Obviously, this encouragement must be accompanied by firmness."

"Tehran is sending out contradictory messages - offers of dialogue together with threatening statements, unacceptable attacks on Israel together with assurances that it wants nuclear power for civil and not military purposes. Iran is at a crossroadsand must decide which road to take," D'Alema said.

He underscored that the Islamic Republic was crucial to the international bid to create stability and security in the Middle East and the surrounding region.

"It's difficult to imagine progress being made in Iraq and Afghanistan without the active involvement of Iran," he said.

The minister said last week that Italy could play a key role in the bid to find a negotiated solution to the crisis thanks to its good relations with Iran.

Italy is Iran's biggest trading partner along with Germany.

Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week rejected demands by the United Nations Security Council that it suspend uranium enrichment.

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council (the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China) plus Germany will meet in Berlin on Thursday to discuss the possibility of imposing sanctions on Iran.