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PARIS (AFP) — France still hopes the six world powers leading an international response to Iran's nuclear programme will meet this week, despite Russian reluctance, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.

Paris had earlier called for foreign ministers from Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States to meet along with France on the sidelines of this week's United Nations General Assembly in New York to discuss the crisis.

But Moscow, already at loggerheads with the West over its intervention in Georgia last month, said Tuesday it saw no immediate need for the talks, which were expected to deal with possible further sanctions against Tehran.

"We hope this meeting will be held," said French foreign ministry spokesman Frederic Desagneaux, insisting that the six power group was still the right forum in which to devise a response to Iran's nuclear ambitions.

He added that discussions were continuing in New York between senior non-ministerial officials from the six power group.

On Tuesday, Russia announced that it could see no need for a minsterial meeting and the United States confirmed that planned talks had been cancelled.

The so-called P5+1 group -- the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany -- was set up in the hope of convincing Tehran not to enrich uranium, amid fears Iran intends to build a nuclear bomb.

Iran insists it is simply developing a civilian nuclear energy programme.

Russia is helping Iran in this civilian project and has been the most reluctant among the six power group to push for tighter sanctions.

Diplomatic relations between Russia and the West have soured since August when Russian forces intervened in the conflict between Georgia and its breakaway regions, triggering international outrage.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has doubled the number of police assigned to its more than year-long crackdown against women flouting Islamic dress codes, Kargozaran newspaper said on Wednesday.

The daily gave no figures but the report, as well as remarks made by a police official to Reuters on Wednesday, indicate the authorities' determination to press ahead with the longest clampdown against "immoral behaviour" in recent years.

The latest campaign began in mid-2007. Such strict codes were tightly enforced in the early years after the 1979 Islamic revolution but in more recent years campaigns have tended to last just weeks or months at most.

"The crackdown on non-Islamic hijab (Muslim veil) will continue until the society is clean of any immoralities," Kargozaran quoted a police statement as saying.

The dress code requires women to cover their hair and wear long, loose clothes to disguise the shape of their bodies.

Violators can receive lashes, fines or imprisonment, although most usually receive a stern warning by street patrols looking for women with veils that are pushed back to show too much hair or coats which are not long enough or too tight.

Kargozaran quoted the head of Iran's airports police as saying 128 women had been prevented from taking their flights because of "bad hijab". It did not give dates and said the figure for those stopped had been published previously.

Enforcement of strict moral codes governing women's dress became more strict after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad swept to power in 2005 with the backing of revolutionary loyalists, such as the Basij religious militia.

Analysts say the authorities are wary of outward expressions of defiance against the system, particularly when the country is under Western pressure over its disputed nuclear programme.

Dissent has been swiftly stamped on -- whether by students, women activists or labour union officials -- for fear that opposition could gain momentum, the analysts say.

Tehran prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi said this month the crackdown will intensify after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, although he did not elaborate.

"The police regards the crackdown on immoral behaviour which includes fighting bandits, drug smugglers and people with improper clothing, as an inseparable part of its responsibilities," police spokesman Mehdi Ahmadi told Reuters.

"Police will continue with the plan as before," he added, declining to give details of police numbers.

In addition to women flouting the dress codes, police have have stopped men with spiky haircuts deemed "Western". Barber shops have been temporarily shut for offering such haircuts.

Police even launched a crackdown in May on small, private firms that fail to enforce strict dress codes on their premises.