UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today there was no argument for a US strike against Iraq before late January.
Mr Annan said Iraq was co-operating with arms inspections and he saw no need for military action until inspectors searching for suspected weapons of mass destruction report back to the UN Security Council by January 27th.
"I really do not see any basis for an action until then, particularly as (the inspectors) are able to carry out their work in an unimpeded manner," Mr Annan said in an interview with Israel's Army Radio monitored in Jerusalem.
Baghdad says it has no banned weapons and tensions over inspections were high today despite Mr Annan's insistence they were running smoothly.
The UN arms experts swooped on at least eight suspect sites in central Iraq, and the head of an engineering facility described their conduct as provocative and annoying.
"They looked at personal documents and searched everything, including briefcases of the employees and drawers in an annoying way, and even notebooks of some of the ladies were looked into thoroughly," said Riyadh Khalil al-Hashimi, head of engineering and designing firm Sa'ad General Company.
The official Iraqi News Agency (INA) said today Iraq has invited chief UN weapons inspector Dr Hans Blix to visit Baghdad to "review co-operation" in January, before the experts report back to the Security Council.
Yesterday, the United States won approval for a new Security Council resolution, co-sponsored by Britain, aimed at preventing Iraq from importing goods which could be used in war.
The 15-nation council voted 13-0 to expand the list of civilian goods under sanctions. Russia and Syria abstained.