Moscow - Russia sees no signs that Iran's nuclear programme has a military purpose, and welcomes steps taken by US President Barak Obama's administration to renew a dialogue with Tehran, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Friday.

"We still believe that at this point in time there are no signs that this programme has switched to a military purpose ... and in this we are in full solidarity with the conclusions presented in the latest report of the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA)," Ryabkov told reporters.

As Russia nears completion of Iran's first nuclear power plant at Bushr, the United States and many Western European countries have not dropped long-held suspicions that Tehran's civilian nuclear programme serves as a cover for ambitions to build atomic weapons.

"It is very important to us that the new US administration is taking steps to meet Iran part-way in the political-diplomatic sphere. We consider this optimal," Ryabkov said in response a video appeal launched by Obama to the Iranian people.

Iran's nuclear programme is expected to be one of the top questions on the agenda when Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev hold talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit in London in April. (dpa)