The head of the U.N. nuclear inspection agency said Friday that Iranian officials had told him that they planned to begin installing equipment next month in an industrial-scale plant to enrich uranium.

Such a move would intensify Iran’s confrontation with the Security Council, which has demanded a full suspension of the production of nuclear material, and has authorized mild sanctions.

The announcement by the official Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, was coupled with a plea to both Tehran and Western nations for all sides to take a “timeout” to head off a larger confrontation.

“Enough flexing muscles, enough calling names,” ElBaradei said in a conversation with reporters in Davos at the World Economic Forum conference. “It’s time to engage.”

He proposed a suspension of the sanctions against Iran, while the Iranians simultaneously suspend enrichment of uranium. That process can produce fuel for nuclear weapons, though the Iranians deny that is their goal.

Nuclear experts and U.S. officials say that while Iran’s announcement was worrisome, it may be a bluff. Tehran has run into significant difficulties in assembling centrifuges to enrich uranium. A year ago it promised to have 3,000 centrifuges running by around this time; instead, it is just beginning to install that equipment, at an underground plant at Natanz.

Also Friday, U.S. officials described a tougher stance toward Tehran and its suspected meddling in the war in Iraq, saying American troops there have authority to kill or capture Iranian agents deemed to be a threat.

The more aggressive policy — evolving over a period of months — was described as the result of mounting evidence that Iran is supporting terrorists inside Iraq and is a major supplier of bombs and other weapons used to target U.S. forces.

President Bush has said the remote-controlled bombs, called improvised explosive devices, are the greatest threat to U.S. troops and the future of a peaceful Iraq.

“Our forces are authorized to go after those who are trying to kill them,” Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.

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