Reuters. Major powers to make "substantial and serious offer" to Iran

Major powers are ready to make "a substantial and serious offer" to Iran during talks next week in return for concessions on its nuclear program, a Western diplomat said on Wednesday.

He declined to give details of the offer - aimed at reviving efforts to reach a diplomatic solution to long-stalled talks over Iran's disputed nuclear work.

"We will take an offer with us which we believe to be a substantial and serious offer," the diplomat said of talks in Almaty, Kazakhstan. "This is an offer which we think has significant new elements in it."

The West has imposed heavy economic sanctions on Iran to persuade it to abandon those parts of its program the powers suspect are intended to give it nuclear weapons capability.

Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, saying its nuclear program is for peaceful, civilian purposes only.

Any broader political dialogue between the United States and Iran would be aimed at reducing mistrust dating back to the 1979 Iranian revolution and seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran. Such a dialogue would be a means of giving additional momentum to existing negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program.

The International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to issue shortly its latest report on Iran, which will indicate the size of its stockpiles of enriched uranium and detail other developments in its nuclear program.