PARIS (AFP) -- UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said patience will prove more effective than sanctions in persuading Iran to drop its uranium enrichment program.

"I do not believe sanctions are the solution to everything. There are times when a little patience is more effective. I think that is a quality we should exercise more often," Annan said in an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde to be published on Sunday.

The United States is leading a drive for United Nations sanctions on Tehran after it refused to heed a Security Council deadline on Thursday to halt sensitive nuclear operations.

European countries have emphasized that the door remains open to negotiations with Iran, after the Security Council permanent members Britain, China, France, Russia and the U.S., plus Germany, offered a package of incentives in return for a nuclear freeze.

The UN chief called on Iran to prove it planned to use nuclear power for peaceful means "by giving the UN inspectors access to all its facilities".

"Such a move could allow us to move forward," said Anna, who arrived in Tehran on Saturday for talks with Iran's leaders on the issue.