Obama says time running out for Iran on nuclear deal

By Caren Bohan and Oleg Shchedrov

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said Sunday time was running out for diplomacy to resolve a crisis over Iran's nuclear program, but Russian President Dmitry Medvedev offered softer criticism of Tehran.

The United States had been willing to give Iran time to decide whether to accept a U.N.-brokered deal meant to allay suspicions it is after atomic bombs but which has drawn Iranian objections, a U.S. diplomat said a week ago.

Sunday Obama, speaking after talks with Medvedev on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific meeting in Singapore, suggested patience was running low.

"Unfortunately, so far at least, Iran appears to have been unable to say yes to what everyone acknowledges is a creative and constructive approach," Obama said while seated next to Medvedev.

"We are running out of time with respect to that approach."

Repeating previous Russian language, Medvedev said "other means" could be used if discussions did not yield results, but did not specify what they might be.

"Thanks to joint efforts the process of (the Iran talks) has not stopped but we are not completely happy about its pace. If something does not work there are other means to move the process further," he said.