13 December 2008: Bloomberg
By Camilla Hall
Dec. 13 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates warned adversaries of America not to “test” the resolve of President-elect Barack Obama’s administration in the first months of its leadership.
“Anyone who thought that the upcoming months might present opportunities to ‘test’ the new administration would be sorely mistaken,” Gates said today at a security conference in Bahrain.
Gates, who will be retained in his post under the new administration, has said he will not be a “caretaker secretary.” A review of U.S. policy and strategy in Afghanistan will be a priority of the new administration as well as closing the American prison for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, he has said. With regards to Iran Obama has said he will pursue a “carrot and stick” approach.
Gates said that the Persian Gulf will remain a region of central concern for the new administration. “I bring from President-elect Barack Obama a message of continuity and commitment to our friends and partners in the region,” he said today.
The U.S. accuses Iran of using the development of nuclear energy to disguise efforts to make a bomb. Iran says its nuclear activities are peaceful and has called on Obama to move from confrontation to cooperation. The U.S. and Israel haven’t ruled out attacking Iranian nuclear sites.
“Nobody is after a regime change in Iran. What we’re after is a change in policies,” Gates said. “There is no doubt that Iran has been heavily engaged in trying to influence the development and direction of the Iraqi government and has not been a good neighbor.”
The U.S. will give Iran “a set of carrots and sticks” in the form of economic incentives or tougher sanctions, in unison with countries such as China, India and Russia that do business with the Persian Gulf nation, Obama said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Dec. 7.
Obama said he will “ratchet up tough but direct diplomacy” with Iran and make clear that building nuclear weapons would be “unacceptable.”
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