There is no proof Iran is pursuing a nuclear-weapons programme, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said today.

But he said Tehran should make its atomic activity “as transparent as possible”.

“We do not have data that says Iran is trying to produce nuclear weapons. We do not have such objective data,” Mr Putin told a news conference in Paris after talks with the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy.

“Therefore we proceed from a position that Iran has no such plans, but we share the concern of our partners that all programmes should be as transparent as possible.”

Mr Putin made his comments as the US pushed for a third round of sanctions against Iran, which has defied the international community by refusing to halt uranium enrichment.

The Russian leader will make his first visit to Iran early next week for a summit of Caspian Sea countries.

Mr Sarkozy said the trip could encourage Iran to be more cooperative.

“After the trip, there could be a will to cooperate - that is essential,” he said.

But Russia has opposed the push for tougher sanctions against Iran, calling for more inspections of Iranian facilities by the UN’s international nuclear watchdog.

“We have worked cooperatively with our partners at the UN security council, and we intend to continue such cooperative work in the future,” said Mr Putin.

Iran and a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are holding more talks this week about Tehran’s uranium-enrichment programme.

The IAEA is seeking details on how Iran obtained components for its P1-type centrifuges, of which more than 2,000 are operating at its uranium-enrichment plant at Natanz, and on its research with the more efficient P2 model.

The new talks come after an agreement reached in August for Tehran to answer outstanding questions about its nuclear programme, including plutonium experiments.

Much of the west, led by the US, accuses Tehran of working secretly to obtain nuclear weapons.

Iran strongly denies this, saying it is trying to achieve nuclear power to generate electricity, and that it has the right to do so.

The UN has imposed two rounds of sanctions on Iran for refusing to halt uranium enrichment, a process that creates nuclear fuel but can also make the core of an atomic bomb.

The IAEA and the EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, are due to report to the UN security council next month on Iran’s willingness to give up enrichment in exchange for political and trade benefits.

As the IAEA and Iran hold their latest talks, there is continuing speculation about a possible US military strike.

The New Yorker magazine this week reported that the White House, pushed by the vice-president, Dick Cheney, requested the joint chiefs of staff redraw plans for a possible attack on Iran, with an emphasis on “surgical strikes” against Revolutionary Guard facilities that are the alleged source of attacks on US troops in Iraq.

An active member of Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition party in Burma has died under interrogation, as the crackdown against last months’ protests continues.

Win Shwe, a 42-year member of the National League for Democracy was arrested with five colleagues on September 26, the day the junta began to put down the demonstrations.

According to a Thailand-based human rights group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, the security forces told Win Shwe’s family that he had died during interrogation.

“They didn’t say when he died or the reason why he died, but they did say he had been cremated,” the AAPP spokesman, Ko Bo Kyi, told GuardianUnlimited.

He described Win Shwe as an “ordinary but active member of the National League for Democracy”.

The AAPP is also concerned about the fate of the pro-democracy leader, Hla Myo Naung, who was arrested today while on his way to seek treatment for an eye problem.

Hla Myo Naung is the main spokesman for the 88 Generation Students, a group that takes it name from the 1988 uprising in which 3,000 protesters were killed.

Hla Myo Naung was quoted yesterday by The Irrawaddy, the Thai-based Burmese news website, at the launch of a campaign for the release of political prisoners in Burma.

“It is a peaceful expression and I don’t think the authorities will respond to our campaign by punishing participants,” Hla Myo Naung said.

The AAPP spokesman said he was concerned that Hla Myo Naung would be tortured.

“His eye problem is serious,” he said. “I want the military regime to provide him proper medical treatment and not to torture him. One activist has died under interrogation,” he said.

The AAPP claimed that Hla Myo Naung is one of seven people to have been arrested in the last two days.

Meanwhile, a Burmese diplomat resigned in protest against the regime’s “horrible” treatment of protesters. Ye Min Tun, a foreign ministry official, announced his resignation in a letter to the Burmese embassy in London. He told the BBC that as a “good Buddhist” he found the beating of monks “horrible”.

“This revolution, this incident, seemed to be the decisive factor that could persuade the government to go the negotiating table. But actually the government ignored the reality.”

Burma’s military leader, Gen Than Shwe, has agreed to talk to Aung San Suu Kyi but only if she agrees to drop her “confrontational stance” towards the regimes and stops calling for sanctions against Burma.

Yesterday Aung San Suu Kyi’s party rejected his terms for negotiations, but said it was prepared to make “adjustments” for the sake of dialogue.

Sam Allardyce is adamant Michael Owen doesn’t need an operation and will be fit to play against West Ham this weekend.

The Newcastle United striker limped off during the 1-0 defeat at Derby County on Monday and it has been suggested that Owen needs surgery because he has been playing with a hernia.

Allardyce said: “We sent him for a scan as a precaution. But the result is he’s absolutely fine and will be fit to play on Sunday.”

The result of the scan means Owen should be for England’s Euro 2008 qualifier against Estonia on October 13 at Wembley and their match in Russia four days later.

If Owen needs surgery, German specialist Dr Ulrike Muschaweak could be asked to help as he operated on Newcastle players Alan Shearer and Steve Harper in the past.

Shearer said: “I don’t know what hernias are nowadays, 10 days or something like that but I don’t know whether it’s a hernia or a groin or whether it’s nothing.”