Group of Eight powers are set on Friday to deplore the post-election violence in Iran and call on Tehran to resolve the crisis over the disputed poll through democratic dialogue, a European diplomat said.
G8 foreign ministers would also call on the Iranian government to "guarantee that the will of the Iranian people is reflected in the electoral process", said the diplomat, who had seen a draft of a statement to be issued on Friday, Reuters reported.
The statement, hammered out by officials on Thursday, is a compromise between countries that wanted to send a tough message to Tehran over its handling of post-election protests and several countries including Russia anxious not to slam the door on possible talks with Iran over its nuclear programme.
The diplomat did not expect the G8 leading industrialised countries to make many changes to the draft when they reviewed it on Friday morning at a meeting in Trieste, northern Italy.
The statement would "deplore the post-election violence" and "urge Iran to respect fundamental rights, including freedom of expression", the diplomat, declining to be named, told Reuters.
It included a message that "the crisis should be settled through democratic dialogue and peaceful means".
About 20 people have been killed in protests after Iran's June 12 presidential election, the worst unrest since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Official results handed hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a landslide victory but defeated candidate Mirhossein Mousavi said the vote was rigged.
Iranian officials have accused two G8 members, the United States and Britain, of inciting the street protests, charges that they deny. G8 officials meeting in Trieste were acutely aware of Tehran's sensitivity to foreign criticism.
The G8, which also includes France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada and Russia, would commit itself to seeking a diplomatic solution to the quarrel over Iran's nuclear programme, the diplomat said.
Tehran says it wants nuclear power to generate electricity but Western nations accuse it of seeking atomic weapons.
The G8 statement would welcome renewed efforts to resolve the dispute, including the readiness of the United States to enter into direct talks with Tehran, the diplomat said.
Washington dropped its opposition to direct talks with Tehran in April in a major policy shift by U.S. President Barack Obama's administration.
The G8 would say Iran had a right to a civilian nuclear programme but also a responsibility to restore confidence in the peaceful nature of its nuclear work, the diplomat said.
The statement would also include declarations on Afghanistan, Pakistan, North Korea, the Middle East, Myanmar and piracy off Somalia among other subjects.
Delegates said on Thursday there were differences between Russia and other G8 nations on how to approach Iran.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made clear Moscow was not prepared to sign up to a G8 statement condemning the election itself. "No one is willing to condemn the election process, because it's an exercise in democracy," he said.
Diplomats had seen the June 25-27 Trieste meeting as a rare chance for the G8 to sit down with regional powers like Iran to discuss shared goals for Afghanistan and Pakistan. But Iran declined to answer Italy's invitation to attend.
Ministers from Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as other countries and organisations, will join the G8 ministers later on Friday to discuss a regional approach to the Afghan conflict.
The quartet of Middle East peace negotiators -- the United Nations, the United States, European Union and Russia -- will also meet on Friday.
They are expected to back Obama's call on Israel for a total freeze on Jewish settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.