TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Visiting former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami on Thursday called on Japan to assume an active role in resolving the Iranian nuclear standoff based on peaceful negotiations and not pressure, a Foreign Ministry official said.

In a meeting with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Khatami sought Japan's help to relay to the United States and Europe that Iran wants to resolve the issue peacefully, the official said.

Koizumi, meanwhile, expressed hope that Iran will be cooperative to resolve this issue, according to the official.

Iran handed over Tuesday its response to an international incentive package jointly offered in June by the five permanent members of the Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- and Germany.

Tehran has reportedly offered to return to negotiations under a "new formula" for resolving the impasse over its nuclear program.

Khatami warns against possible UN sanction

Khatami warned against possible UN sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, Mainichi Daily News reported.

The more the UN Security Council takes up the issue, extremism will intensify in Iran, Khatami warned.

Koizumi told Khatami that Japan has maintained friendly relations with Iran and hopes to develop them further.

Khatami on Friday defended his nation's right to the peaceful use of nuclear power, insisting that the Islamic republic had no desire to build an atomic bomb, AFP reported.

"We are seeking a peaceful kind of use of nuclear technology," Khatami told a seminar at the United Nations University in Tokyo, speaking through a translator.

"Iran doesn't want to get access to nuclear weapons. Not at all. We do not need them," said Khatami, a reformist who was president from 1997 to 2005.

Khatami reiterated Tehran's view that it has "the legitimate right" to produce energy from nuclear technology as other countries do.

"If they are very much concerned about nuclear weapons, we are a member of NPT (Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty) and we have signed the protocol," said Khatami, who was in Japan for a conference on religion and peace in Kyoto.

Khatami later said in an interview with Japan's public broadcaster NHK that he hoped to visit the United States to encourage dialogue. "No matter what position I have, I will speak with the same words," he said.

"I will speak on peace and friendship."

Washington has said it is considering a visa application by Khatami to visit the capital next month.

He would be the most senior Iranian to visit the United States since the termination of diplomatic relations following the Islamic revolution and takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979.