WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 Kyodo - A senior U.S. government official has recently suggested that Japan should reconsider its oil development deal with Iran and obtain oil from Libya instead, another U.S. official said Wednesday.

The unofficial suggestion was made to an official of Japan's Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry amid growing tensions over Iran's nuclear programs.

Iran is suspected of resuming construction of centrifuges to enrich uranium, while Libya announced last December that it will voluntarily dismantle all its weapons of mass destruction programs.

''Certainly one thing Japan could consider for oil supply instead of Iran is Libya,'' the senior government official was quoted as saying.

The official was referring to an agreement that Japan reached with Iran in February on an oil development project in Azadegan, southern Iran, one of the world's largest oil fields.

The comment apparently reflects Washington's increasingly tough stance toward Iran. The United States is seeking a resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency in September to refer the Iranian nuclear issue to the U.N. Security Council for possible economic sanctions.

The U.S. official said Britain, France and Germany failed to convince Iran in a meeting last month not to construct the centrifuges.

During the meeting, an Iranian official said, ''We have a right to uranium enrichment,'' according to the U.S. official.

==Kyodo