The United States is near a decision on whether to join Europe in offering incentives to stop Iran from gaining nuclear weapons, including eventual membership in the World Trade Organization, in exchange for Tehran?s formal agreement to halt such development, The Washington Post reported yesterday.

Joining the European effort would mark a change of course for the Bush administration, which accuses Tehran of aiming to build such weapons and which, instead of incentives for Iran, has been pushing to bring the dispute to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.

The Washington Post cited US and European officials as saying that US President George W. Bush?s talks last week with European colleagues convinced him that a united front ? in offering carrots now and a stick later if Iran does not comply ? would be more effective.

On behalf of the European Union, France, Britain and Germany have been trying to persuade Iran to scrap potentially weapons-related activities in return for trade and other economic benefits. Bush said last week in Bratislava, Slovakia, that he and European leaders were ?on the same page? when it came to keeping

European talks

Iran from developing nuclear weapons and he would consider their suggestions for economic incentives. Bush, who has not ruled out military action, said he hoped to find a diplomatic solution to the dispute. Upon returning from Europe, Bush met on Friday with key foreign policy advisors to discuss requests made by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac, The Post said. More meetings on the Iran nuclear dispute were expected this week, but the White House wants to move quickly to finalize a list of incentives to offer Tehran as part of European talks with Iran, officials were cited as saying.

The newspaper quoted a senior State Department official as saying Bush found his European colleagues to be ?solid on the big issue: that Iran can?t have a nuclear weapon.?

?Having found them firm on the strategic issue, he?s more willing to consider the tactical aspects with the Europeans ? including how do we work with them and what can the Europeans offer that we would be part of it,? the official said.

Iran and Russia sign nuclear fuel deal

The agreement, inked by the two countries? nuclear energy chiefs at the Bushehr atomic plant in southern Iran, came as Tehran faced heightened pressure from the United States, which accuses it of secretly developing nuclear weapons. Iran, OPEC?s second largest oil producer, denies the charge and has received strong backing from Moscow, which is keen to play a major role in expanding Iran?s nuclear energy program. ?This is a very important incident in the ties between the two countries and in the near future a number of Russian experts will be sent to Bushehr to equip the power station,? Iranian state television quoted Alexander Rumyantsev, head of Russia?s Federal Atomic Energy Agency, as saying. A key part of the agreement obliges Tehran to repatriate all spent nuclear fuel to Russia. Moscow hopes this will allay US worries that Iran may use the spent fuel, which could be reprocessed into bomb-grade plutonium, to develop arms. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has been probing Iran?s nuclear program for over two years, said it would also keep a careful eye on Tehran?s use of the fuel.