MADRID (DailyComet) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday the United States is willing to look at creative ways to get Iran to halt its nuclear activities and once again denied the U.S. is preparing for war with the Islamic republic.

But she said Washington was unwilling to discuss rewards for Tehran until it complies with UN demands to stop uranium enrichment.

"The president has made clear that we are on a diplomatic course," she told reporters in Madrid when asked about comments by the chief of the UN nuclear watchdog who expressed concern that "new crazies" are girding for war with Iran.

"I have no idea, you can ask him who he is talking about," Rice said, referring to remarks by Mohamad ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, that appeared to refer to members of the Bush administration, including perhaps Vice President Dick Cheney. "The president of the United States has made very clear what our policy is," she said. "That policy is supported by all the members of his cabinet and by the vice president of the United States."

The hawkish Cheney has repeatedly said the administration is keeping all options on the table for dealing with Iran, even as efforts continue to seek a diplomatic resolution to the dispute.

Earlier, ElBaradei was quoted by the BBC as saying he wanted to prevent the situation from escalating into war. "I have no brief other than to make sure we don't go into another war or that we go crazy into killing each other," he said. "You do not want to give additional argument to new crazies who say 'let's go and bomb Iran.'" ElBaradei said he was not referring to Bush but rather to "those who have extreme views and say the only solution is to impose your will by force."

Rice said the United States was committed to diplomacy and signaled support for a behind-the-scenes effort to strike a technical and semantic compromise that could allow Iran to stop, or suspend, activities and open the door for international negotiations.

"Where we've been flexible is on how we get to suspension," she said a day after inconclusive talks between European and Iranian nuclear negotiators also in Madrid.

"Where we have been flexible is on myriad ways that a consultation process could lead the Iranians to a position where they could suspend," she said.