WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and Russian security officials met in Washington on Thursday for talks the Bush administration hopes will lead Moscow to cooperate in a shield to defend against Iranian missiles.

The latest round of expert-level discussions, which started on Wednesday, comes a week after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates went to Moscow and offered to grant Russians access to shield sites in the Czech Republic and Poland.

The U.S. delegation submitted detailed written proposals to Russian officials at the end of the Moscow meetings.

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"The Russians have had a week to study our proposed transparency and confidence building measures on missile defense. We very much look forward to hearing their reaction," said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said there had been some progress in the discussions at the State Department, but declined to provide any specifics or say whether they had reached a deal.

"They have had some good discussions," he said.

The U.S. plan to place parts of a missile defense system in formerly Soviet-allied countries has been a major factor in the deterioration of U.S.-Russian relations in recent years. The dispute has pushed diplomatic relations to a post-Cold War low, although trade has been unaffected.

Washington says the system is needed to protect against growing capabilities of states such as Iran. But Moscow says the system could threaten Russia.

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