Iran, keen to avert a US-led war in neighbouring Iraq, has called for a UN-supervised referendum to give Iraqis the chance to oust Saddam Hussein's government at the ballot box.
"The Iraqi government should accept and allow a power transition to take place in Iraq under UN supervision," Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said.
"We believe this is a genuine move, that the Iraqi people elect their real representatives in a referendum supervised by the United Nations," he said. "We believe it is the only peaceful solution to bring about regime change in Iraq and prevent a war in the region."
While no friend of the Iraqi president - who launched an attack on Iran in 1980 which sparked an eight-year war between the two oil powers - Iran is concerned about the potential impact on the region of any war to topple him.
Analysts say Iran's rulers fear a war would lead to a flood of Iraqi refugees heading for the Islamic Republic, leave it encircled by pro-US states and raise US pressure on Iran.
Washington has labelled Iran part of an "axis of evil" along with Iraq and North Korea.
Iran said the proposal was different from one made by the United Arab Emirates last week for Saddam to go into exile to avert a war. Saddam has said he would rather die than go into exile and he has also dismissed any thought of stepping down.