WASHINGTON, Aug 24: The Bush administration has deferred its call for immediate sanctions against Iran although it did say that Tehran has failed to respond adequately to a UN demand for verifiably suspending its nuclear enrichment programme by Aug 31.

The change in Washington’s approach followed a 21-page counter-offer that Iran sent on Tuesday. While the details of the response have not been made public, Iran said its response offers an opportunity for ‘serious’ talks on the issue.

US officials told reporters that the White House had intended to issue a stronger statement rejecting Iran’s response and calling for talks on sanctions to begin quickly, but America’s European allies – particularly Britain and France – persuaded it to allow time to carefully consider Tehran’s offer.

Ultimately, the US yielded to their pressure and on Wednesday afternoon the State Department issued a milder statement which defined Iran’s response as inadequate but refrained from demanding immediate sanctions.

In a three-paragraph statement, the State Department promised to review Iran’s response. “We acknowledge that Iran considers its response a serious offer, and we will review it,” the statement said.

“The response, however, falls short of the conditions set by the Security Council, which require the full and verifiable suspension of all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities.”

The statement came after President George W. Bush met Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the White House. He also discussed Iran’s response with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.