ElBaradei raised the idea of a U.S.-Iran dialogue in talks with Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who took the idea "under advisement," a U.S. official said.

While the United States is willing to talk to Iran "if we see it in our interest to do it," the U.S. official said the Americans were unclear if ElBaradei was communicating a message from Tehran or expressing his own views.

ElBaradei "said what others have said before, that the Iranians are interested in talking," the official said. But he added: "It's not clear where this is coming from."

A western diplomat based in Vienna said the IAEA chief told Armitage, "It's time for dialogue" and that he was reflecting views Iran was keen for the Americans to hear.

The United States has accused Iran of developing nuclear weapons and has been pushing to put the issue before the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

Washington will keep pressing Iran to let IAEA inspectors probe its nuclear facilities and produce a clear and verifiable declaration of Iran's activities, U.S. officials said.

The issue could come to a head in June when the IAEA board of directors next meets.

U.S. DIVISIONS

European Union countries led by Britain, France and Germany have favored a negotiated solution to the Iran nuclear row, although they went along with a tough IAEA resolution last week after Iran temporarily halted IAEA inspections.

President Bush's administration has been divided about dialogue with Iran. Many experts doubt Bush would risk a bold gesture toward Tehran before the November U.S. presidential election, especially since Iranian hard-liners in recent elections tightened their hold on the government. Moreover, many U.S. experts doubt that Iran would ever give up a weapons-related program that it hid from the world for 18 years. Iran insists the program is peaceful.

In the meeting with Armitage, ElBaradei did not discuss specifics of a "deal" but spoke generally about Iran's interest in dialogue with the United States, the U.S. official said.

Another source said ElBaradei had "obviously thought a lot about" a diplomatic solution to the nuclear controversy.

The trade-off would involve U.S. and European guarantees supporting Iran's development of nuclear energy in return for Tehran giving up a "closed fuel cycle" for nuclear weapons.

That is essentially what Britain, France and Germany promised last October in return for Iran's vow, later broken, to disclose all its nuclear secrets to the IAEA.

But ElBaradei also signaled that for Iran "the crux of the deal is being able to use it to reestablish a modicum of normal relations with the United States," the source said.

The United States and Iran have not had diplomatic ties since the 1979 Islamic revolution when student fundamentalists held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.

ElBaradei, on a four-day visit to the United States, also met this week with CIA Director George Tenet to discuss the global nuclear black market linked to Abdul Qadeer Khan, father of Pakistan's atom bomb.

Yesterday, ElBaradei meets Bush. Talks are expected to include recent proposals by both men to curb proliferation.

"I think U.S. leadership is very much needed in this area, and we need to work - all of us - as one," ElBaradei said.