Washington  - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice confirmed on Wednesday that Washington was looking to establish a diplomatic post in Iran but concluded that the decision should be left to the next president.

"At this late moment, I think it is probably better that this decision be left to the next administration," Rice said, less than two months ahead of president-elect Barack Obama's inauguration.

President George W Bush took "an in-principle decision" to establish an interest section in Tehran that could provide visa services and reach out to the Iranian people, Rice said. The issue was never raised directly with the Iranian government, and the effort was sidetracked by other international events, including Russia's invasion of Georgia, that "made it difficult to do," Rice said.

"Within the context of a firm policy toward Iran, something that reaches out to the Iranian people is very important," Rice said.

Obama has said he will initiate a higher level of dialogue with Iran as president to help resolve the standoff over Iran's nuclear activities, but has not announced a position on the interests section since the November 4 election.

The United States severed diplomatic ties with Iran after the 1979 storming of the US embassy and the subsequent hostage crisis. Washington has maintain tight sanctions on Iran ever since. Rice emphasized that the purpose of the post would be to interact with the Iranian people and not to deal with the government.

"The constituency here is not the Iranian regime, but the Iranian people," Rice said. (dpa)