The U.N. nuclear watchdog's governing body meets on Monday for the first time since U.S. President Barack Obama took office, a change likely to colour debate on concerns like Iran and Syria.

The following outlines important themes at the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors' week-long session.

WHAT WILL OBAMA'S MESSAGE BE?

Specifics will be sparse at the 35-nation meeting since Obama has not finished a foreign policy review. But he has pledged a cooperative, multilateral approach to solving world problems after the pre-emptive unilateralism of the Bush era.

The United States is likely to voice support for the IAEA, in keeping with Obama's pledge to double the agency budget in phases, although the global financial crisis may scramble any timetable. The IAEA has complained of shoestring funding from member states undermining its job of catching nuclear proliferators and guiding development of atomic energy for peaceful purposes.

Washington will also reaffirm backing for the IAEA's effort to investigate suspicions of covert nuclear weapons work in Iran and Syria. It is not known if this will entail increased and more timely intelligence-sharing with the IAEA.

Obama's readiness to engage U.S. foes without preconditions may also find expression and will be welcomed by many in the hope it will encourage Iran and Syria to be more transparent.

A BREAKTHROUGH ON IRAN AND SYRIA?

Not at this meeting. Iran and Syria both deny wrongdoing but have stonewalled the IAEA's requests for documentation and access to draw conclusions. Both seem to be waiting for Obama to show what he has to offer. His policy review will not be finished for at least another month.

Expect Western delegates to highlight concern that Iran:

* is close to stockpiling enough enriched uranium for possible reprocessing into fuel for a nuclear weapon, as shown by figures given in a Feb. 19 IAEA inspection report.

* is curbing inspections to the point of blinding the IAEA to Iranian nuclear advances and projects in planning stage. Iran recently halted IAEA visits to a heavy water reactor project to verify Iranian design data. The IAEA wants to check the complex is geared to yielding isotopes for agriculture and medicine, not plutonium for atom bombs as the West suspects will transpire.

IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei and many board members will press Iran and Syria to open up voluntarily to U.N. inspectors to defuse mistrust.

Last week, non-proliferation advocates urged the IAEA to impose a rare, legally-binding "special inspection" on Syria to pin down whether it almost built a secret nuclear reactor before it was wrecked in a 2007 Israeli air raid.

The appeal followed a Feb. 19 inspectors' update on Syria that they had found a "significant" amount of uranium traces in soil samples taken at the site last June and they had not come from munitions Israel used to bomb it.

But an IAEA official said a special inspection, which would give agency sleuths sweeping search powers, would be premature and confrontational at this time and was not on the horizon.

ANY FRESH ISSUES FOR THE GOVERNORS?

Yes, one arising once every four years, the election of a new IAEA director-general. ElBaradei will leave office later this year after three terms dating back to 1997. There are two candidates, with the Japanese ambassador to the IAEA favoured over his South African counterpart but apparently still short of the 2/3 majority required for victory.

Governors will review the state of the campaign and the board chairman, Algeria, is expected to announce a special board meeting on March 26 to hold a secret ballot.

If the vote is inconclusive, Algeria will ask for new candidates. A new director must be elected by June.