Rice said the United States and its European allies were working to obtain full disclosure on Iran's nuclear activities, which the Americans suspect are aimed at developing an atomic bomb.

"The world must not tolerate any Iranian attempt to develop a nuclear weapon," she said in a speech to the convention of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

She spoke two days before the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany were to meet in Geneva with a top Iranian negotiator in a new effort to persuade Tehran to drop its nuclear arms ambitions.

Washington has backed the European effort to use economic and security incentives with Iran but has threatened to take the matter to the United Nations if it fails.

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