WASHINGTON, March 3 (Reuters) - The White House reiterated on Tuesday it has not taken the military option off the table when it comes to preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon but it is still committed to trying to engage Tehran.

"While the president has talked about the notion that we shouldn't take specific actions off the table, I think the president was outspoken in the campaign about the desire to, at appropriate times, engage not just our friends but our enemies in discussing ways to reduce particularly the threat of nuclear weapons and nuclear proliferation," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

He spoke at a briefing with reporters in response to a question about whether military action might be the only way to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear threat.

(Reporting by Caren Bohan and Ross Colvin, editing by Jackie Frank)

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