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The United States and five other world powers went to the table with Tehran Thursday to discuss its nuclear program, but senior administration officials said the U.S. would not push for sanctions against Iran at the Geneva talks and is prepared to talk one-on-one with Iranian negotiators if such engagement appears "useful." 

The officials also said that while gaining access to inspect Iran's uranium enrichment facility near Qom is "critically important," the U.S. won't walk away from negotiations if Iran refuses.

"Tomorrow is the negotiations track and that is the thrust," a senior official said ahead of the talks. "The thrust is dealing with this nuclear program and trying to get a process underway to address the growing international concern. These will not be easy talks." 

The talks were expected to last the full day. 

If the leader of the U.S. delegation, William Burns, decides direct talks with Iran would move U.S. objectives forward, he's authorized to do so. This would amount to a huge shift in U.S. willingness to negotiate with Iran. The last time the U.S. attended the so-called P5 +1 talks (the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany) it did so merely as an observer.

"If it is useful, if it serves a purpose in the negotiations, there will be an opportunity for bi-lateral talks," one official said." We may in fact engage (Iran) in a bilateral negotiation if it would move the negotiation along."

Three senior officials intimately involved in the Iranian nuclear issue briefed reporters at the White House. Significantly, they avoided the term sanctions in describing the administration approach to talks with Iran, preferring the term "pressure track."

"Just as you prepare the ground for negotiations, which we have done, you also prepare the ground in case this doesn't work out. We've done a lot of preparing the ground so that we would be credible on the pressure track," an official said. "The first objective is to affect Iranian behavior. We want this process to succeed. If it's not going to succeed, there has to be consequences. This is a bona-fide offer to negotiate this nuclear problem, to deal with it. Having said that, we have been quite diligent about building the other side of the track as well."

While U.S. is demanding international inspections of Iran's previously covert uranium enrichment facility near Qom, the U.S. is prepared to keep talking if Iran refuses. Iran has already said the Qom site does not violate non-proliferation rules and inspections are unnecessary.

"Access to Qom by the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) is critically important," one official said. "But I'm being cautious because I don't know what's going to be put on the table from the other side. The Iranians should grant access to Qom in a timely fashion. This would be an important thing for the Iranians to do." 

More broadly, officials said Iran needs to take "practical steps" and "produce measurable results" and need to so "at a pace that makes sense" for nuclear talks to continue. "The pace, the tempo of the negotiations is a critical part of this." 

As for a timeline, one official said Iran must prove its willingness to negotiate in a matter of weeks. 

The officials said Iran faces a "very, very stark choice" to either abandon its pursuit of weapons-grade nuclear material or face "isolation, pressure, sanctions and other steps." 

The U.S. has begun to draw up what officials described as "six to eight categories" of potential sanctions designed to affect Iran in "a material way." 

The officials would not specify the type of sanctions that are being considered or say if nations like Russia had dropped long-standing objections to sanctions that would hit businesses in Iran unrelated to nuclear proliferation activities. The officials were similarly mum on whether other nations, namely China, had dropped objections to sanctions on refined petroleum products. China is a major gasoline supplier to Iran through various non-official mechanisms. 

"I don't think we should go into details on what we've discussed with various nations," an official said. "The conversations take place in different ways with different countries. There's a diplomatic process underway on discussions about the pressure track." 

The officials said if Iran rebuffs what they described as a "serious, bona fide offer" to trade pursuit of weapons-grade nuclear material for enhanced trade and financial ties, the U.S. is prepared to pursue sanctions through one of three mechanisms: the United Nations Security Council; with regional groups (such as the European Union); or the U.S. applying sanctions with "like-minded" nations. 

Officials said the U.S. has built a "united front" against Iran's continued pursuit of nuclear weapons, adding Iran "needs to find a way to respond because if they don't, they will pay the price for it." 

Officials said the Obama administration has been engaged since early summer in negotiations with Security Council nations and others on devising a sanctions strategy should Iran remain recalcitrant. 

The officials said Iran is facing increased international isolation due to disclosure of the Qom facility, which is not yet operational but which the U.S. regards as a clear violation of disclosure commitments. 

"The Qom announcement has brought unity and a sense of purpose to the P5+1 process," an official said. "Even sympathizers to the Iranians were sadly surprised. It has really put a lot of pressure on the Iranians." 

Senior administration officials also said blowing the cover on the Qom uranium enrichment facility has denied Iran a negotiating chip and undermined its ability to covertly produce -- once the facility came on line in roughly three months -- to produce weapons-grade nuclear material. 

"It is going to be the centerpiece of conversations," one official said, referring to access to Qom. "There's not a lot of dispute about the core facts."