ROME (RIA Novosti) -- Italy's prime minister Tuesday hailed Russia's efforts to diffuse the ongoing crisis around Iran's nuclear program, and said he favored a non-military solution to the impasse.

"I am certain that we need a solution completely separate from military intervention," Silvio Berlusconi said during a televised debate with opposition leader Romano Prodi, adding that Russian efforts to solve the problem were especially important.

Russian and Iranian officials met in Moscow Tuesday for further closed consultations on Iran's nuclear research program, a source close to the Russian team said Tuesday. The source said the talks involved Ali Hosseini-Tash, the deputy head of Iran's influential Supreme National Security Council.

The talks are likely to highlight a Russian proposal to enrich uranium for Iran, widely seen as a compromise in the crisis surrounding the Islamic Republic.

Meanwhile, a top U.S. State Department official said in Baku on Tuesday that the United States hopes to work with Russia to counter Iran's nuclear program in the UN Security Council.

"We look forward to working with Russia," Daniel Fried, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, told journalists during a visit to Iran's neighbor Azerbaijan.

"We have supported Russia's proposal to Iran with respect to nuclear fuel enrichment on Russian territory and it's a pity that Iran has not accepted this," Fried said.

Meanwhile, Jordan's King Abdullah II warned in an interview with AFP that any military operation on Iran would cause the situation in the region "to explode".

"A strike against Iran would cause the whole region to explode," the Jordanian monarch said.

"The threat to regional security and stability will be grave if force is utilized to resolve this problem. Dialogue, patience and diplomacy are the only solution," he said Wednesday.