ROME (Xinhua) --Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D' Alema said that diplomacy remains the best path to resolve the crisis with Iran.

In an interview broadcast by Italian TV on Thursday, D'Alema, who the day before met in Rome with Iranian Foreign Minister Manucheher Mottaki, warned against building up a case against Iran based on unsubstantiated evidence, the way the United States did with Iraq, reports Trend.

The minister observed that diplomacy remains the best path to resolve the crisis with Iran even if this will be "very delicate and difficult".

"The way things stand now, if what reports say is true, Iran does not appear to be on the verge of developing nuclear weapons," D'Alema said.

According to D'Alema it was "inconceivable" that Italy has been left out of the so-called Contact Group, comprising United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany, which is negotiating with Iran.

In the event the international community adopts economic sanctions against Iran, D'Alema said, this would represent a case of "taxation without representation" for Italy which is Iran's biggest trading partner.

Russia expects Iran to reply to nuclear proposal within weeks

Russia said on Thursday it expected Iran to give "within the coming weeks a response to" the nuclear offer proposed by major powers.

"We expect a response to this proposal, including as regards the time for an answer, in accordance with usual diplomatic practices through the same channel," Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Krivtsov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying, reports Trend.

"We said earlier that we expected a response to the six-nation proposal within the coming weeks. We still expect to receive satisfactory explanations from Iran on its approach to the offer of negotiations through the above-mentioned diplomatic channel," he said.

China also urged Iran on Thursday to respond to the offer, Reuters reported.

"China hopes Iran can actively respond to the efforts of the international community," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news conference. "The early resumption of talks is the aspiration of the international community."

Meanwhile, Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Aso said on Thursday that Tokyo would take part if sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear program. However, he added that it was too soon to be talking about such action.

Aso told Reuters that he had urged Iranian officials to seriously consider the proposal, saying the offer was supported by the Group of Eight and other industrialized nations.

"It is not constructive to talk about sanctions now, before they reply," Aso said. "But it is very much an option. Japan would not fail to join if everyone took concerted action."

The French government reaffirmed on Thursday that Iran should respond within the coming weeks rather than months to the offer, AFP reported.

"We call on Iran to answer favorably," foreign ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei told reporters.