ROME, June 25 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming Group of Eight foreign ministers meeting will take a strong stance against Iran for its alleged crackdown on election protests, the Italian foreign minister said Thursday.

    Foreign Minister Franco Frattini spoke ahead of the G8 conference in Trieste on the stabilization of Afghanistan and Pakistan, the ANSA news agency reported.

    "We will adopt a particularly tough and clear position," said Frattini, who also expressed confidence that Russia, which has growing political and economic ties to Tehran, "will not fail to show its support."

    "The value of life supersedes any possible bilateral accords with Iran and I believe the Russian Federation will have no trouble in backing a joint position," Frattini said.

    The foreign minister also called on the international community to be firm in its condemnation of Iran.

    "Iran is at a crossroads. It must choose whether or not to keep the door open to dialogue with the international community," the minister said.

    Frattini said the ministers "cannot shift from this (position)" of demanding a recount in Iran.

    Iran had been invited to the G8 foreign ministerial meeting, but declined at the last minute.

    On Wednesday, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said the Iranian authorities would not give in to the pressures concerning the presidential election results, local satellite Press TV reported.

    "If the legal frameworks are breached today, then no future election can be guaranteed. In every election, there is only one winner, and of course, some defeated candidates complain, if there is any doubt, it should be pursued through legal channels," he said.

    On June 13, Iran's Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli said incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won 62.63 percent of the total ballots of the 10th presidential election on June 12, while his main rival Mir-Hossein Mousavi got 33.75 percent.

    After the official declaration, Mousavi protested "strongly" the "obvious violations" in Iran's presidential election. He also appealed to the Guardian Council for the cancellation of the election results.