The United States has no immediate plans to attack Iran over its suspected nuclear arms programs, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a message meant to allay such fears in Europe.
Ms Rice kept up the Bush administration's tough talk against the Islamic republic but also stressed diplomacy as she visited Britain and Germany which, with France, are negotiating with Iran to try to ensure it does not build a nuclear bomb.
"The question is simply not on the agenda at this point in time we have diplomatic means to do this," she said when asked in London if the United States was considering military action to end the Islamic republic's programs.
At the start of a trip designed to repair transatlantic ties frayed over Iraq, Ms Rice was dogged by questions over Iran, which European commentators worry could be the object of a divisive replay of the US invasion to oust Saddam Hussein.
Her response, assuaging fears of imminent military action while leaving the door open for the future, was unlikely to reduce tensions over a nation President George W Bush this week called the "world's primary state sponsor of terror."
Asked why she left open the possibility of an attack, Ms Rice said in an interview, "The American president is never going to take options off the table."