RIYADH - Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday appealed to Saudi leaders to back a US-led drive for tough sanctions against Iran in a visit to Riyadh.
Gates met King Abdullah and the Saudi crown prince as part of President Barack Obama's diplomatic push for fresh UN sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme, seeking help from an ally amid opposition from China.
"We are certainly hopeful that the Saudis will use whatever influence they have which is considerable in this region and throughout the world to try and help us in our efforts at the UN so we can get meaningful sanctions enacted against Iran," press secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters.
But Gates stressed the United States wanted to see financial sanctions targeted on Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard and not the Iranian population.
With China apparently the strongest holdout to sanctions among the five veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council, the Americans have turned to their Saudi allies to persuade China to reconsider.
Washington hopes the Saudis could guarantee China stable oil supplies in the event of disruption from Iran.
Riyadh has yet to endorse more sanctions.
At a desert palace on the outskirts of Riyadh, Gates held talks with the king and his aides, followed by a sumptuous dinner and then a one-on-one session with the monarch lasting about 45 minutes.
He earlier met Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, the king's half-brother and minister of defence and aviation since 1962.
The Pentagon chief also discussed bolstering Saudi air, land and missile defences, a US defence official said.
The United States has promised to speed up weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf allies, which have bought billions of dollars worth of American weapons in recent years.
"It's not lost on the Iranians all the security cooperation that's been going on for years now," Morrell said before the visit.
Apart from Iran, Gates discussed efforts to fight Al-Qaeda's branch in neighbouring Yemen, officials said.
Days after Iraq's elections, Gates also renewed US appeals for Saudi to step up its diplomatic engagement with Baghdad.
Riyadh remained "non-committal" as it was waiting to how election results play out in Iraq, the official said.
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