WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has cut off contact with Iran, and Pentagon officials are pushing for action they believe could destabilize the government of the Islamic republic, The Washington Post reported in its Sunday edition.

The move follows intelligence reports suggesting Al-Qaida operatives in Iran played a role in the May 12 suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia, according to the newspaper.

Citing administration officials, the newspaper said the White House "appears ready to embrace an aggressive policy of trying to destabilize the Iranian government."

Officials will meet Tuesday at the White House to discuss the Iran strategy, with Pentagon officials pressing for action that could lead to the toppling of the government through a popular uprising, the Post said.

A White House spokeswoman declined comment on Saturday.

The United States severed ties with Iran following the 1979 Islamic revolution. Last year, President Bush branded Iran as part of an "axis of evil" that was trying to develop banned nuclear weapons. The United States also has accused Iran of harboring members of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaida network, which Washington blames for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

But since the U.S. campaign to topple the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, Iranian and U.S. officials have met from time to time to discuss a variety of issues.

After this month's suicide bombings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the Bush administration canceled the next planned meeting, according to the Post.

The newspaper said "very troubling intercepts" before and after the Saudi Arabia bombing played a major role in the administration's new stance toward Iran. The intelligence
suggested Al-Qaida operatives in Iran were involved in the planning of the bombings, which killed 34 people, the Post reported.

On Thursday, the official IRNA news agency of Iran said U.S. allegation that the Islamic nation harbored Al-Qaida members were based on faulty intelligence, but officials vowed to arrest any militants who might have slipped into the country.

On Saturday, Iran's top diplomat told the London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat that Iran sees no need to immediately revive a dialogue with the United States following talks on who should govern postwar Iraq.

"This dialogue has stopped now and we see no reason to revive it for the time being," Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi told Al-Hayat.

"We entered into an honest dialogue with the Americans to create a government in Iraq that has popular support, but they kept on changing their minds and also changing their representatives in Iraq," he said without giving additional details.

The United States is trying to set up an interim Iraqi administration after U.S.-led forces invaded the country two months ago and ousted President Saddam Hussein.