Gates: Iranians 'Overplaying Their Hand'

In this photo released by the Saudi News Agency, King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia, right meets with U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, third right after his arrival in Riyadh Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2007. others are unidentified. (AP Photo/HO, Saudi News Agency) (AP)

MANAMA, Bahrain -- The Iranians are "overplaying their hand" on the world stage in a belief that setbacks in Iraq have weakened the United States, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday.

He said that now is not the time to negotiate with Iran because the U.S. lacks leverage but that talks probably would make sense at some point.

The U.S. has been applying growing pressure on Iran, blaming Tehran for providing bombs and other help used against American troops by militants in Iraq. President Bush has warned the U.S. will "seek out and destroy" the networks providing that help.

In addition, American raids inside Iraq have netted Iranian prisoners, and the U.S. is sending a second aircraft carrier and missiles to the region.

The bipartisan Iraq Study Group recommended including Iran in regional talks on ending the violence in Iraq, a path the Bush administration has so far declined to take.

Gates said he had told the leaders of U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and Qatar that the Iranians "believe they have the United States at some disadvantage because of the situation in Iraq."

"To be precise, I told them both that I thought the Iranians were overplaying their hand and that one of the consequences of that is that they have raised real concerns on the part of a number of countries in the region and beyond about their intentions," he told reporters.

Many Gulf nations are worried about a rising Iranian influence _ a concern made more acute by the prospect for a further slide toward civil war in Iraq.

With regard to U.S. failure thus far to achieve stability in Iraq, Gates said, "I think that our difficulties have given them (the Iranians) a tactical opportunity in the short term, but the United States is a very powerful country."

Asked about the prospects for military conflict with Iran, whose nuclear program is seen by the Bush administration as a growing threat to U.S. interests, Gates said, "There are many courses of action available that do not involve an open conflict with Iran _ there's no need for that."

Gates said that although he had publicly advocated negotiating with Iran as recently as 2004, he now advises against that.

"Right at this moment, there's really nothing the Iranians want from us," he said. "And so, in any negotiation right now we would be the supplicant," asking Iran to stop doing such things as enriching uranium for its nuclear program.