UPDATE 2-Clinton says Obama will have new Iran policy

Pressed whether and when the United States would directly engage Iran, Clinton said Washington wanted to consult with its allies before making any decisions over how to proceed.

But, without giving details, she promised an attitude toward engagement with Iran "that might bear fruit."

"We have no illusions, Mr. Chairman, that even with a new administration looking to try to engage Iran in a way that might influence its behavior, that we can predict the results. But the president-elect is committed to that course and we will pursue it," she said.

Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat, pressed Clinton to take up the case of a missing ex-FBI agent whom he said was being held in a "secret prison" in Iran.

The former FBI agent, Robert Levinson, has been missing since March 2007 when he went on a business trip to Iran's Gulf island of Kish.

The Iranian authorities have said repeatedly they have no information about Levinson, whose wife and seven children live in Florida. But his wife, Christine Levinson, believes he is still alive.

Clinton did not dispute that Levinson might be in a secret Iranian prison and urged Iran to free him. The Bush administration has said consistently it has been told by Iran that it has no information about Levinson's whereabouts.

"It would be an extraordinary opportunity for the government of Iran to make such a gesture -- to permit contact, to release him, to make it clear that there is a new attitude in Iran as we believe there will be with the Obama administration towards engagement," said Clinton. (Reporting by Sue Pleming, editing by David Alexander and David Wiessler)