But Russia denied it had any such plans.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Washington could consider sanctions against Moscow if it went through with reported plans to sell Syria its SS-26 Iskander missile.

Secretary of State Colin Powell also raised the reported sale in talks here Wednesday with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, according to a State Department official speaking on condition of anonymity.

"The US policy on this is very clear," Boucher said. "We're against the sale of weaponry to Syria, against the sale of lethal military equipment to Syria, which is a state sponsor of terrorism."

He said the United States was aware of reports a deal was brewing and "we think those kinds of sales are not appropriate. ... The Russians know about this policy. They know about our views."

The Russian media carried reports of the planned sale as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad prepared to visit Russia on January 24 for talks with President Vladimir Putin.

The press accounts said Israel was furious at the prospect of Syria obtaining the missile, an updated version of the Scud used by Iraq in the first Gulf War, that could strike almost anywhere in the Jewish state.

However, Ivanov categorically denied any plans for such a sale.

"We have no talks with Syria about such missiles," he told reporters here. "There are no negotiations under way with Syria."

Meanwhile, Boucher declined to elaborate what action the United States would envision against Moscow if the deal went through.

"There are potential sanctions under US law," said the State Department spokesman. "But that would have to be looked at, if and when, such a sale should occur."

Powell raised the potential sale with Ivanov "in the context of a broader discussion of proliferation," the anonymous US official said. "The secretary reiterated longstanding US policy."

A senior US official, who also asked not to be named, said Washington had already made clear to the Russians its disapproval of missile sales to Syria.

"It's a policy that they (the Russians) know about," the official said. "They are quite clear on both the policy and the law that we have."

The official said the Foreign Authorization Act allows action against "people who sell lethal equipment to state sponsors of terrorism, to prevent them from various interaction with the United States."

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