WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States remains "open to engagement" with Iran amid tensions over its nuclear aims, according to an interview transcript released Sunday.

"We remain open to engagement. But they do know what they have to do. They have to reassure the international community by words and actions as to what their nuclear program is intended for," she said in an interview with The New York Times.

"And so whether it would take six months, a year, or five years, it`s that deep concern about Iran acquiring nuclear weapons that is the preoccupation of our friends and partners," she said.

But Washington, she added, would pursue the sanctions path "regardless of any issue of timing, because we think it`s got the best potential for changing Iranian behavior."

Clinton`s comments were released by the State Department Sunday, a day after brief quotes from her 20-minute Times interview appeared in the newspaper.

Earlier this week, President Barack Obama cautiously welcomed the effects of new sanctions on Iran but said he remained willing to talk with Tehran about its nuclear program, in a meeting with a small group of journalists at the White House.

"It is very important to put before the Iranians a clear set of steps that we would consider sufficient to show that they are not pursuing nuclear weapons," Obama said, according to The Washington Post.

"They should know what they can say `yes` to."

Reports said Obama left open the possibility that the United States would accept a deal allowing Iran to maintain its civilian nuclear program, so long as Tehran provides "confidence-building measures" to verify that it is not building a bomb.

Clinton did not specifically address such a deal, but said Tehran had been provided a "pathway" in order to "demonstrate that they are not attempting to obtain nuclear weapons."

The top US diplomat also said the sanctions packages "surprised Iran by the scope and reach of what the international community was prepared to do on the pressure front," and that the economic effects of the sanctions were "beginning to bite."

"We are hearing from many different sources around the world that this is having an impact on Iran`s thinking, and they`ve undertaken dramatic diplomatic and commercial maneuvers to try to prevent the sanctions from being levied on them... and are falling short."

The US-Iran nuclear showdown has proven to be one of the most intractable problems facing Obama in his 18 months in office, and top aides including Defense Secretary Robert Gates have consistently refused to rule out a possible US military strike on Iran.

But Clinton sought to downplay suggestions that the Obama administration may be drawing a line under the latest efforts to get Tehran to curtail its nuclear ambitions.

"The president`s been very clear that Iran should understand that he is leaving all options on the table and that they should take him at his word, but I don`t think it benefits our efforts to go much further than that."

Earlier in the week, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs rebuffed a proposal from Iran`s hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for face-to-face summit talks with Obama.

Ahmadinejad meanwhile urged Obama on Wednesday to join talks on a nuclear fuel swap deal, saying Tehran was ready to begin discussions.

BDST: 0930 HRS, August 09, 2010