L'AQUILA (Italy) - GROUP of Eight major powers will give Iran until September to accept negotiations over its nuclear ambitions or else face tougher sanctions, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday.

'If there is no progress by then we will have to take decisions,' said Mr Sarkozy after discussions with G-8 partners that wrapped up the first day of their annual summit.

Western countries believe Iran is trying to build an atomic bomb. Teheran says it wants to master nuclear technology to generate electricity and has rejected all overtures for talks.

The United States and Canada said the world's main industrialised nations were growing increasingly impatient.

'All G8 nations are united. There is a strong consensus at the table that unless things change soon, there will be further action,' said Canadian spokesman Dimitri Soudas.

However, Mr Sarkozy made clear Russia was still dragging its feet over the issue and had pushed for more time before considering a fresh round of sanctions.

'We made an effort to agree not to strengthen sanctions straightaway in order to bring everyone on board. The more reserved amongst us agreed that Pittsburgh was the time for decisions,' said Mr Sarkozy.

In a separate statement, the G-8 said it was committed to finding a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear programme.

'We sincerely hope that Iran will seize this opportunity to give diplomacy a chance,' the statement said.

It deplored the violence in Iran following last month's disputed presidential election and said the arrests of journalists and foreigners were 'unacceptable'. -- REUTERS