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US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Arab allies in the United Arab Emirates on Monday after warning Iran of "punitive measures" if it does not respond seriously in two weeks to an international incentive to freeze sensitive nuclear work.

Rice sought to tighten the screws on Tehran after taking the unprecedented step of sending a top aide to meet Iran's chief negotiator Saeed Jalili at international talks in Geneva on Saturday.

Rice, in Abu Dhabi at the start of an Asian tour, was due to be briefed on the talks by Undersecretary of State William Burns.

Washington had hitherto refused to sit with Tehran on nuclear talks until Iran stopped enriching uranium.

The meeting sent a "very strong message to the Iranians that they can't go and stall... and that they have to make a decision," Rice told reporters en route to Abu Dhabi.

"It clarifies Iran's choices and we will see what Iran does in two weeks. But I think the diplomatic process now has a kind of new energy in it."

The White House later said it expected Iran to reject the incentives package.