The temporary suspensions, which will apply only to US non-governmental organizations (NGOs), are to be announced later Wednesday or Thursday by the Treasury and State Departments, the officials told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"The order has gone out to get this done fast," one official said.

The move, the latest in series of US outreach efforts to its longtime foe, will allow US employees of US NGOs to travel to Iran and spend US currency there without special permission from Washington, the officials said.

Under current regulations, overseen by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, such actions are now illegal without federal approval and punishable by hefty fines.

More specific implications of the decision were not immediately available.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who this week hinted that new dialogue between the United States and Iran could emerge from the ruins of the earthquake, actively campaigned for the suspension of the sanctions which have been in place since the 1980s, the officials said.

Over the weekend, the United States offered and Iran accepted US humanitarian assistance to the victims of the December 26 Bam earthquake which is believed to have taken some 40,000 lives.

Powell's remarks at came days after the first US military planes, carrying earthquake aid, arrived in Iran since Washington and Tehran locked horns over a hostage crisis in 1981 after the Islamic revolution.

TERRA.WIRE