Tensions with Iran and the escalating terrorist threat in Yemen were main topics of discussion during US Defence Secretary Robert Gates' meeting Sunday with leaders in Oman. An ally of both the United States and Iran, Oman has served as an intermediary in negotiations with Tehran, including successful mediation in October that led to the release of an American hiker held in an Iranian prison for more than a year.
Gates' visit comes against the backdrop of the recent WikiLeaks release of some quarter million sensitive and classified diplomatic memos _ or cables in diplomatic parlance. Many underscore the Arab world's anxiety about Iran and its nuclear ambitions.
The cables detailed pleas from Arab leaders for action against Tehran, making public a broad sentiment that the largely Sunni Arab world generally only discusses in private about Shiite Iran. One of the stronger comments came from Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah urging a US-led attack against Iran to ``cut off the head of the snake' and cripple its nuclear weapons program.