July 27 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. would seek international backing for stiffer sanctions on Iran should the Persian Gulf nation rebuff talks aimed at curbing its nuclear program, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters in Amman.

“We would try to get international support for a much tougher position,” Gates said today in the Jordanian capital. He added that any new sanctions wouldn’t be incremental.

Earlier in the day, in visits with top Israeli officials, Gates said the U.S. plan to engage Iran over its nuclear program wasn’t open ended, while his counterpart Ehud Barak warned that Israel is considering all measures if diplomatic efforts fail.

“No options should be removed from the table, despite the fact that at this stage priority should be given still to diplomacy,” Defense Minister Barak said at a joint press conference in Jerusalem with Gates. Barak is a former Israeli prime minister.

Gates emphasized that U.S. President Barack Obama has said that Iran must respond to his invitation for unconditional engagement by late September. Israel has voiced concern that Obama’s plan gives Iran too much time to enrich uranium, a process that can lead to the production of energy or a bomb.

‘Negative Consequences’

“We are in full agreement on the negative consequences of Iran obtaining this kind of a capability,” Gates said. “We are also agreed that it is important to take every opportunity to try and persuade the Iranians to reconsider what is actually in their security interests.”

Gates also met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and said in Amman that the Israelis understood the U.S. position.

“I had every sense that the Israeli government is prepared to let our strategy play out,” Gates said.

Gates made a point of emphasizing that Iran risks its own security in pursuing nuclear development that might result in a weapon. Israel may decide to strike an Iranian nuclear facility preemptively, and Arab countries in the region might act on their own fears to spur an arms race.

The Iranian government says its atomic pursuits are a legitimate effort to create a nuclear power industry.

In Jerusalem, during his first visit to Israel in 2½ years, and again in Jordan, Gates cited expanding U.S. defense ties with other nations in the region. The steps include maritime surveillance, air defense and missile defense.

The aim is “to try and persuade the Iranians that their security will be diminished by trying to acquire nuclear weapons, rather than enhanced,” Gates said. “Our bilateral and multilateral cooperation with nations all through the region is one facet of the effort to lead them to that conclusion.”

EU View

European Union foreign ministers said today talks on the Iranian nuclear effort likely wouldn’t go forward while unrest continues over Iran’s disputed presidential election last month.

In Washington, Obama told the opening of a two-day strategic discussion among American and Chinese officials that the U.S. and China must “be united” in preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

China holds a permanent seat and veto, along with the U.S., on the United Nations Security Council. The panel has issued a series of resolutions punishing Iran for refusing to scale back uranium enrichment and open its work to wider scrutiny.

Existing UN Security Council resolutions prohibit Iran’s acquisition of any items that might contribute to its nuclear program, authorize inspection of cargoes to and from Iran, and have banned travel outside the country for five senior nuclear officials. Member nations of the UN also are urged to refrain from granting export credits or entering into financial transactions with Iranian banks.

Obama said the U.S. and China should help renew the “basic bargain” of the nuclear age: “countries with nuclear weapons will move toward disarmament, countries without nuclear weapons will not acquire them, and all countries can access peaceful nuclear energy.”

“A balance of terror cannot hold,” Obama said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Viola Gienger in Amman at vgienger@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 27, 2009 13:01 EDT