The Bush administration said Wednesday it was willing to defer seeking UN sanctions against Iran for a few weeks if there is a chance for a diplomatic resolution of a long-running dispute over Iran's nuclear programs.

The United States had demanded Iran suspend its uranium processing as a
precondition to negotiations.

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State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said whether Iran was agreeable to a temporary suspension would not be known until European diplomat Javier Solana met with Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani.

"Their disposition to this point has not been to give clear answers" and it may require several meetings to find out, McCormack said. And yet, the spokesman said, "There may be an opportunity here, there may be a little opening if we just give the Iranians a little time and space."

Senior administration officials warned Iran after it did not meet an Aug. 31 deadline to suspend uranium enrichment that the United States would seek sanctions against Iran in the UN Security Council, possibly by the end of September. But McCormack said Wednesday that Solana saw an "opportunity" in his meeting with Larijani "if we give the Iranians a little time and space."

"Our response was, 'absolutely, if it's a matter of a few days, a few weeks here to see if there is a possibility of keeping open a negotiated diplomatic solution?we want to give that every opportunity to succeed," McCormack said.

The administration's sanctions strategy is to impose a series of increasingly potent penalties against Iran, beginning with curbs on technology that could be used in military programs.