WASHINGTON, Sept 16: The United States will stick to diplomatic and economic pressure to force Iran to halt its nuclear drive, but “all options are on the table,” Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Sunday.

Interviewed on Fox News, Gates also said the United States would have a “real problem” if Syria and North Korea are collaborating on a nuclear programme, but refused to confirm reports to that end.

Asked if President George Bush would consult Congress before launching any strikes on Iran, Gates said he would not be drawn on “hypotheticals.”

“I will tell you that I think the administration believes at this point that continuing to try and deal with the Iranian threat ... through diplomatic and economic means is by far the preferable approach,” he said.

“We always say all options are on the table,” Gates said. “But clearly, the diplomatic and economic approach is the one we’re pursuing.”

The five permanent Security Council members plus Germany are due to meet to discuss a new draft UN resolution on sanctions against Iran on Sept 21 in Washington.

The United States has never ruled out taking military action against Iran but on Friday, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei brushed off the notion that it could now threaten the Islamic republic.

“First of all, there’s a question of just how much intelligence we have in terms of specific locations and so on,” Gates said on Fox.

“But beyond that, I think that the general view is we can manage this problem through better operations inside Iraq and on the border with Iran — that we can take care of the Iranian threat ... inside the borders of Iraq.—AFP