Manama, Bahrain - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates called on the international community to exercise more economic pressure on Iran in line with UN resolutions to help bring a halt to its nuclear programme and expanding power in the region.

Gates, who was speaking during an address to the Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain, also urged Gulf countries to include Iraq in the Gulf Cooperation Council and forgive Baghdad's debts.

He also said that despite the projected increase in the number of troops in Afghanistan, the solution to the situation there did not lie in increasing troops but in better training Afghani government troops to face threats from the Taliban and al-Qaeda, which, he emphasized, was a priority for the incoming US administration. (dpa)