Seeking to allay concerns in India over reference to Iran in its new law on nuclear cooperation, the US has said New Delhi is not involved in the matter which is strictly between the American Congress and Administration.

Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Richard Boucher said the reporting requirement on Iran "does not impinge" on India and hinted that the cooperation will be guided by the 123 Agreement, which is being negotiated to operationalise the civil nuclear deal.

The US Congress wants that the American administration should "report to them and it doesn't impinge on India because it doesn't involve India," he said.

He was referring to a provision in the Henry J Hyde US-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act signed by President George W Bush on Monday which says that the US government would seek India's cooperation in isolating and sanctioning Iran.

This has caused tremendous concern in India, with various political parties apprehending that the US was trying to influence New Delhi's foreign policy through the deal.

"...it's a report that we have to provide to our Congress on a issue that everybody knows we're interested in. So I don't see how that breaks any new ground for anybody in that matter," Boucher said.

"I don't know that it needs a particular amount of clarification. As far as I remember it ends up being in reporting language," the US official said.

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