President Medvedev of Russia sounded an unexpectedly clear note of support for the United States over the Iran nuclear stand-off yesterday. He hinted that he was also fast running out of patience with Tehran and that Moscow might consider new sanctions.

Mr Medvedev said that neither he nor Mr Obama, whom he met in Singapore over the weekend, were satisfied with Tehran’s foot-dragging over a UN-backed deal that would allow Russia and others to enrich uranium for Iran. Mr Obama said that Tehran was running out of time.

Mr Medvedev said that Russia was trying to play a central role in diverting a crisis: “Our goal is clear, it is transparent. We are prepared to work further to ensure Iran’s nuclear programme is only for peaceful purposes. In case we fail, the other options remain on the table, in order to move the process in a different direction,” he said.

The “other options” were understood to refer to sanctions.

A senior US official said that neither Mr Obama nor Mr Medvedev had suggested a deadline for Iran, although France had suggested that December should be the cut-off point.

“We’re exactly on the same page with the Russians in terms of what we’re doing in one track and what we may need to do in the other track," the official said.

Talks so far have focused on finding ways to ensure that Iran’s nuclear ambitions remain restricted to civilian use and do not extend to developing atomic weapons.

Iran has repeatedly and vigorously denied that its nuclear energy development is a cloak for anything more sinister, while Russia has historically supported that claim by saying that there is no evidence that Tehran is pursuing nuclear weapons.

The UN-brokered plan, which was supposedly agreed early last month, would involve Tehran sending its uranium to Russia and France, where it would be enriched and prepared for use in a reactor core. Iran’s apparent acceptance of that bought it a suspension of some economic sanctions on its oil exports, though the US emphasised at the time that the deal had a time limit.

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