LONDON — Prime Minister Brown will meet President Bush within days, amid signs of irritation in Washington that the British prime minister wants to run a foreign policy more independent of America. Government sources confirmed that Mr. Brown would visit America before the end of the month, possibly meeting Mr. Bush at Camp David.

Whitehall sources denied that Mr. Brown hastened the visit after two ministers appeared to cast doubt on his commitment to the “special relationship.”

Tensions between the leaders are likely to be exposed when they discuss Iran. Evidence is growing that the president is leaning toward military action to prevent Tehran developing a nuclear bomb, an approach not backed by Mr. Brown. Mr. Brown has played down the idea of military force, insisting that the way to reduce tensions in the Middle East and elsewhere was to win the wider battle of “hearts of minds.”

The perceived gulf between the president and prime minister was highlighted yesterday by a former American ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton. In an interview with the London Sunday Times, Mr. Bolton made clear a military solution to Iran was a real option. “I don’t regard the military option as attractive, but if the choice is a nuclear-armed Iran, there is no question you have to come down on the side of force.” He suggested that Mr. Brown could expect a rough ride from the president over his appointment of Mark Malloch Brown as minister for Africa, Asia, and the United Nations.

In an interview with the London Daily Telegraph 10 days ago, Mr. Malloch-Brown said Britain and America would no longer be “joined at the hip” on foreign policy. He said it was important to build other alliances in Europe and with India and China.

The comments were seen in Washington as consistent with remarks by Douglas Alexander, Britain’s international development secretary, who raised hackles in America by talking about the need for more “multilateralism.”

Mr. Bolton said: “If Gordon Brown knew what he was doing when he appointed Mark Malloch Brown, it was a major signal that he wants a different relationship with the United States. If he didn’t know what he was doing that not a good sign either. It symbolizes that the British government is moving to the left.”

Mr. Bolton said attempts by Britain, Germany, and France to negotiate with Tehran had merely strengthened Iran’s hand. “What will it take to convince Europe the policy has failed? If we wait until they get a bomb it will be too late.”