ROME - IRAN'S turmoil and growing intransigence towards the West will be in the spotlight at a Group of Eight foreign ministers' meeting opening on Thursday in Italy though Teheran snubbed an invitation to attend.

Rome, hosting the talks in the northeastern port city of Trieste, decided on Monday to withdraw the invitation after Teheran failed to respond. Italy had invited Iran to take part as part of discussions on Afghanistan because of its influence in the central Asian region.

The invitation, backed by the US administration, came before the eruption of violence in Iran, where the Islamic regime is cracking down on street protests over hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed June 12 re-election.

Iran's relations with the West have become increasingly strained since the violence began.

The Trieste meeting of the group of major economies - Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States - was meant to focus on bringing stability to Afghanistan and Pakistan, a key priority for US President Obama.

Iran will not be the only no-show at the three days of talks.

The United States will be represented in Trieste by State Department number three William Burns along with two key regional envoys, Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg said.

Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, will attend the talks. George Mitchell, the US special envoy for the Middle East, will also be in Trieste for a meeting of the so-called 'quartet' on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - the European Union, Russia, United Nations and United States.

They are expected to hold a news conference on Friday.

An Israeli official said on Tuesday that a planned meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mitchell had been cancelled. Instead, Mr Mitchell will meet on Monday in Washington with Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barack, the official said. -- AFP