U.S. President Barack Obama will preserve "all his options" to deal with Iran although he wants diplomacy with the Islamic Republic, the White House said on Thursday.
"The president hasn't changed his viewpoint that he should preserve all his options," Gibbs told reporters when asked if military strikes were an option.
"We must use all elements of our national power to protect our interests as it relates to Iran," the spokesman added.
Obama's predecessor George W. Bush said that diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear issue was "the first option" although "all options are on the table."
Also on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchechr Mottaki said that his country will respond positively if the new U.S. administration makes a genuine policy change.
"We do believe that if the new administration of the United States, as President (Barack) Obama has said, is going to change its policies, not in talking but in acts, then definitely it will find in the region a creative and cooperative reaction, including from Iran," Mottaki told a panel at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.