A US official said on Friday that his country and Iran started to understand each other, as he urged the Congress to put on hold a bid for even tighter sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

A US official said on Friday that his country and Iran started to understand each other, as he urged the Congress to put on hold a bid for even tighter sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

"We are beginning to understand each other, to see each other's needs and theaspirations of the people of each of our countries," Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman told the Voice of America's Persian service.

On a congressional proposal for tougher sanctions, the US negotiator said: "We think that this is a time for a pause, to see if these negotiations can gain traction."
Sherman represented the United States at October 15-16 talks between Iran and six major powers aimed at easing concerns over the clerical regime's contested nuclear work.

Sherman at the time expressed guarded optimism at striking a deal with Iran's new leadership and called on Congress to tread cautiously on new sanctions ahead of the next round of talks on November 7 and 8.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, echoing Sherman, said that President Barack Obama's administration wanted congressional action to be "aligned with our negotiating strategy."

"While we understand that Congress may consider new sanctions, we think this is a time for a pause, as we asked for in the past, to see if negotiations can gain traction," she said.