WASHINGTON - In a rare, direct contact, a senior State Department official telephoned the Iranian government on Wednesday to offer aid after an earthquake killed more than 500 people in southeast Iran but was politely rebuffed, U.S. officials said.

The offer was conveyed by Assistant Secretary of State William Burns to Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Javad Zarif, who declined it, saying Iran was not accepting additional international aid for now, the officials said.

Zarif, speaking through an aide, largely confirmed this account but denied that the Iranian response was a refusal. "Iran did not refuse the help but said we can handle it domestically," he said.

After originally saying it would not accept help from abroad, Iran has requested and received about $180,000 worth of tents and blankets from Japan.

Washington's offer appeared to be part of a U.S. effort to show it is willing to deal with the Iranian government despite its accusations that Tehran is seeking nuclear weapons and its refusal to join a European effort to negotiate a solution.

	Iran’s UN Ambassador Javad Zarif (Dennis Callahan/Notimex)

Tehran says its nuclear ambitions are confined to peaceful power-generation to meet the needs of its growing population.

Tuesday's magnitude 6.4 earthquake was centered on the town of Zarand about 440 miles (700 km) southeast of Tehran. Iran's interior minister said the death toll would likely reach 550 and other Iranian officials said it could go higher.

State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper confirmed the U.S. offer of assistance. "We have emergency supplies in Dubai that would allow us to quickly and efficiently respond positively to any requests for humanitarian relief," he said.

Iran accepted U.S. aid after a devastating earthquake 14 months ago hit the desert citadel city of Bam, in the same province as Zarand, killing 31,000 people.

A U.S. official said the latest offer should be seen partly as an effort to show Britain, France and Germany that Washington will deal with Iran even if it will not join the Europeans in talks to try and negotiate a solution on the nuclear issue.

"You have to think of.. the standoff with the EU3 and the need to win points (with the Europeans)," said the official. "This is an effort to make sure people (in Europe) realize we're in sync," he added.

He acknowledged, however, that Washington had no desire to negotiate with Iran alongside the three European nations.

Another U.S. official played down Washington's offer of earthquake aid, saying it was not designed to lead to any particular dialogue with Iran.

"I wouldn't read that much into it ... What's it going to lead to -- Iran forswearing terrorism and nuclear weapons? No. Some kind of opening for a dialogue? That's something we're we're not really interested in," said this official.

"Our purpose here is to... demonstrate in a compelling and public way our humanitarian concern."

The offer appeared to be the first significant U.S.-Iranian contact since former Secretary of State Colin Powell sat next to Iran's foreign minister at a dinner in Egypt on Nov. 22.

The Burns-Zarif conversation was a rare exchange between the two nations, which have not had diplomatic relations since Washington severed ties with Tehran in 1980 after the Iranian revolution brought an anti-American government to power.

Ties were cut during the 1979-81 hostage crisis when Iranian students held 52 Americans for 444 days.

Additional reporting by Evelyn Leopold at the United Nations