(IsraelNN.com) The United States is willing to continue talks with Iran over suspension of its nuclear development activities for the next four or five months, according to sources in Jerusalem.

But in October, the hourglass will finally run out, unless Iran has shown signs of softening its resistance to ending its uranium enrichment program.

Special U.S. envoy to the Persian Gulf Dennis Ross met with a European diplomat recently to discuss the matter, according to a confidential telegram received last week in Jerusalem. The Hebrew-language daily Haaretz reported Sunday that Ross told the senior European official during their meeting the U.S. will end its first round of talks with Iranian nuclear negotiators sometime this autumn, probably October.

Israel at Arm's Length
It is significant that Ross did not brief Israeli officials on his talks with Iran, as was customary during the tenure of former U.S. President George W. Bush. The Obama administration has kept Israel at arm’s length vis-a-vis its Middle East policies, with fewer consultations and less message-coordination with Israeli diplomats – a fact that has not gone unnoticed by Arab media.

“Obama’s people brief their Israeli counterparts in advance much less about security and Middle East policy activities than the Bush administration used to,” said an official quoted late last week by Saudi Arabia-based English-language daily Arab News.

Ross met last week with President Hosni Mubarak and other officials in Egypt and a number of other nations in the region for talks on the Iranian nuclear threat before flying back to the United States. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is also expected to meet on the matter with Mubarak as well as Jordan's King Abdullah II, before flying to Washington for talks with President Barack Obama, scheduled for May 18.