LONDON (IRNA) -- The president of Senegal Wednesday said that the West should change its approach with regard to Iran's purely peaceful nuclear program by starting talks without any conditions.

"My own role as a Muslim yet unabashedly pro-western intermediary between the European Union and Iran makes me think there is a better way: Drop the preconditions to opening negotiations," Abdoulaye Wade said.

The call comes ahead of today's deadline set by the UN Security Council for Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program, despite its right under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The Senegalese president warned that the U.S. may "weaken its case by setting conditions on talks with Tehran and insisting on sanctions with or without the full support of other Security Council members."

"The West's current approach has yielded nothing except an ongoing stand-off. It has plainly failed to alter Iran's program or increase international inspectors' access to nuclear sites," he said in a letter to the Financial Times in London.

Based on his recent talks in Tehran he said, "Iranian leaders requested only that, in addition to the E3 nations (France, Germany and the UK), Russia and China, talks be expanded to include the US and three new members from Africa, Asia and Latin America".

"It is hard to see that anyone faces much risk in conceding to this request," the president said.

He proposed a five-step approach, starting with Iran reiterating openly that all nuclear activities, including uranium enrichment, are strictly for civilian and peaceful purposes and the U.S. agreeing to join an international group for face-to-face talks.

A facilitator should then lead consultations on forming this group, arrange a date and time for a meeting and only intervenes at the opening session to set up rules, a decision-making process and an implementation mechanism, Wade said.

"There is no evidence that 'big stick' diplomacy is working in Iran. Meanwhile, the toll of instability in the Middle East - higher oil prices and an ever deadlier division of the planet along religious lines - is growing," he warned. The president suggested that the path to negotiations, which he outlined, could "lead to an initial meeting in a matter of days - which would allay Western suspicions that Iran is trying to buy time."

"I urge the west to let negotiations begin. What have you got to lose?" he said.