The United States said Wednesday that Iran was feeling the heat over its nuclear program after Russia warned that a US drive to cut the Islamic regime's oil exports hurt chances for peace.

US diplomats have been touring the world to urge governments to curb Iran's key export. China, India and Russia have all resisted the calls, although Japan and the European Union are looking at ways to reduce Iranian oil imports.

"We do think that these consultations are bearing fruit," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.

"We also see that Iran is already feeling the pinch in terms of the revenue it counts on from its crude, and we'll continue to work on this," she said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier Wednesday said that punitive sanctions on Iran had "exhausted" themselves and would only harm prospects for peace by stirring up discontent.

Nuland defended US economic pressure, saying that "our concern is that the money that the Iranian regime gains from the export of crude is fueling its nuclear program."

"We really need to get the regime's attention," she said. "It is important to get it where it bites."

Deputy Secretary of State William Burns visited Russia this week in part to explain a controversial new US law that punishes foreign companies that deal with Iran's central bank, which plays a key role in oil sales.

Lavrov, in his remarks, also warned that a military strike against Iran would be a "catastrophe" and inflame existing tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.

Talks with Iran a 'foolish waste of time': US lawmaker
Washington (AFP) Jan 18, 2012 - The hawkish chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs committee warned the Obama administration on Wednesday against embarking on talks with Iran about its nuclear program -- an endeavor she said would be a "foolish waste of time."

Fresh from a congressional trip to Iran, US lawmaker Ileana Ros-Lehtinen expressed concern that Iranian officials whom she and other members of her congressional delegation met with seemed to think that talks between Washington and Tehran were likely.

"The folks we met with seem to think that the United States is on the verge of once again conversing with Iran," the Florida congresswoman said.

"I certainly hope we're not going to do that foolish venture again."

Ros-Lehtinen made her remarks as Turkey's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu said during a visit to NATO headquarters Wednesday that both Iran and global powers were ready and willing to restart talks on Tehran's controversial nuclear program.

There were varying views, however, on how likely such a dialogue actually is.

Officials from the European Union said there has been no progress toward talks, even as Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said during a visit to Turkey Wednesday that the next round of talks would probably be in Istanbul and that a date would be set in the near future, Turkish media reported.

Davutoglu is to meet Salehi on Thursday and join EU foreign ministers for talks on Monday that will touch both on Iran and Syria.

Ros-Lehtinen was adamant, however, that any dialogue with Iran would be fruitless.

"I don't know what the administration is going to do, but that would be very foolish of them to sit down and negotiate with them," and said a much more appropriate course of action would be to speed passage of sanctions legislation.

"We just need to pass the (sanctions) bill," Ros-Lehtinen told reporters as she exited a meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II, who is visiting Washington.

"I absolutely, unequivocally, very clearly and directly oppose any kind of talks with Iran," the lawmaker added.