WASHINGTON, Aug 28 (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama could open talks with Iran on its nuclear program early next year if he wins the White House, a senior foreign policy adviser to Obama said on Thursday.

The adviser, former U.S. national security adviser Tony Lake, suggested Washington needed to give Tehran a sharper choice between the consequences of continuing its suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons and the benefits of giving it up.

"He (Obama) is saying that as soon as he takes office that we have to have a very serious set of negotiations with the Iranians in which we in effect present them with a choice," Lake said in a foreign policy panel on the sidelines of the Democratic convention in Denver.

The United States and others accuse Iran of seeking atomic weapons under cover of a nuclear energy program. Tehran says its uranium enrichment program is to generate electricity so that it can export more of its valuable oil and gas.

The Bush administration has been reluctant to talk directly to Iran on the nuclear issue, and Obama has said that if elected he would pursue a policy of greater engagement. (Reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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