By Tom Evans; Sr. Writer, AMANPOUR.

Washington (CNN) - Turkey's prime minister declined to support President Barack Obama's push for tough new sanctions against Iran but said his country was willing to act as a mediator in the diplomatic standoff over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey has had a strategic alliance with Iran since the 17th century and wants a diplomatic solution to end the deadlock. Erdogan spoke to CNN's Christiane Amanpour while in Washington to attend the Obama administration's summit on nuclear security, saying, "I believe that we can find a way out."

"I am here for a diplomatic solution," he said. Countries that are members of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) "must all work together on this, and as (for) Turkey, we could act as a very important intermediary."

Turkey is a rotating member of the United Nations Security Council, which has demanded that Iran halt its nuclear fuel program. Iran has refused the demand and continued to produce enriched uranium, which in high concentrations can be used to produce a nuclear bomb.

Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but the United States has accused it of trying to develop a nuclear bomb.

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