Gates Sees Saudi Help, International Support on Iran (Update2)

March 12 (Bloomberg) -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates said yesterday the U.S. has enough backing from other nations to make tougher sanctions work against Iran and signaled that Saudi Arabia may try to persuade China, its biggest oil customer, to go along.

The Saudis should draw on their economic clout “to say it’s important to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia” that China support a fourth round of United Nations penalties against Iran for its nuclear work, Gates told reporters traveling with him in the Persian Gulf region.

“I have the sense that there is a willingness to do that,” he said in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, where he met with Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayyed al-Nahyan of Abu Dhabi, the deputy supreme commander of the U.A.E. Armed Forces.

The proposed sanctions are intended to intensify pressure on Iran to back off any nuclear-arms development and engage in international talks on the issue.

Gates traveled to the Persian Gulf from Afghanistan three days ago as the U.S. seeks support at the UN Security Council for tougher measures against Iran that may target shipping, banking and insurance. The Iranian government says its nuclear work has commercial rather than military aims.

Revolutionary Guard

Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. welcomed the Obama administration’s emphasis on measures aimed at pressuring the Iranian regime and its Revolutionary Guard Corps rather than penalties that would hurt ordinary residents, Gates said. The aim is to focus “on the people that we think are making the decisions,” he said.

The U.A.E. lies across the oil-transit chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz from Iran, and has become one of the top buyers of U.S. weapons. The U.S. and the U.A.E., which pumps more crude oil than Venezuela, last year signed an agreement to develop a civilian atomic power program in the Emirates.

Gates shed his shoes to tour the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, one of the largest in the world, with 80 white marble domes and an interior decorated with floral inlays. The mosque is named after the late president regarded as the founder of the grouping of eight emirates.

“It is a beautiful site and a fitting tribute to the father of this nation, a man of great vision, tolerance, and judgment,” Gates said after his visit.

In the Saudi capital Riyadh on March 10, Gates had dinner with King Abdullah and other meetings with officials including Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdelaziz al-Saud.

“I felt really good about both stops,” Gates said.

CIA Studies

Gates said he disagreed with skeptics of sanctions on Iran, and cited Central Intelligence Agency studies on the effectiveness of such measures in cases such as Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, and South Africa. The main factor was backing from a wide range of players and a goal they could embrace, said Gates, a former CIA director.

“I think we have that kind of broad, international support,” he said. “I think the prospects of success are certainly better than a lot of other situations where sanctions have been applied.”

The purpose of such measures would be “trying to persuade the Iranian government of what their own best interest is, as opposed to regime change or something like that,” Gates said.

China, Sanctions

In Saudi Arabia, the Pentagon chief asked King Abdullah to urge China to sign onto sanctions. U.S. officials including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have said a secure Persian Gulf and a stable energy supply is in China’s interests.

While China, the fastest-growing major economy, has balked at sanctions, it came around to support each of the last three Security Council resolutions that laid out penalties against Iran.

Saudi Arabia’s official SPA news agency today said there was no discussion between Gates and Saudi leaders of the government in Riyadh trying to influence Beijing to support UN sanctions.

Reports that Saudi Arabia would use its influence to get China to support sanctions are false, the news agency stated, citing an “official source.” The issue “was not discussed” during Gates’s visit, the agency said.

Obama’s efforts at diplomacy with Iran and the Iranian rejection of an offer that largely mirrored its own suggestion of a solution contributed to expanding support for moving to the next step of imposing sanctions, Gates said.

U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf have been moved to action because of “rising interference and covert activities throughout the region, in addition to their missile and nuclear programs,” Gates said of Iran. The U.S. has accused Iran of supporting groups such as Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Conduit for Products

Gates urged the U.A.E. to do more to cut off shipments of American products through its territory to Iran that can’t be sold directly. The U.A.E. also has cracked down on Iranian front companies seeking nuclear and weapons technology.

“There has been a significant improvement,” Gates said. “I talked about the desirability of continuing to improve our cooperation in that area.”

Gates pressed both Gulf nations he visited to accelerate regional cooperation on air and missile defenses and maritime surveillance in the face of Iran’s weapons development.

The U.S. Air Force and the Pentagon’s regional military command for the Middle East and Central Asia have worked to accomplish coordination among the countries in recent years, Gates said.

“I would describe this as a gradual process of the growing ties in the security arena,” particularly in defensive systems, Gates said.

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