"You can see the general support in the region for applying the sanctions and for doing what we can to make the sanctions effective and try to influence the Iranian government to walk away from their nuclear weapons program," Gates told reporters on his plane home after visiting Oman, Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates.

"There clearly is concern, not just in this region but elsewhere, about Iran's overall aggressive behavior with respect to Hezbollah and Lebanon and other places around the world," he said. "And I think that's a broadly shared concern."

Iran has moved to reassure Gulf states in recent days after UN diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks showed great alarm in the region over Tehran's nuclear enrichment program.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told a Gulf security conference in Bahrain last week that "our power in the region is your power." But a senior Gulf Arab security official said concerns would remain until Iran dealt "openly" with the international community over its nuclear program.