(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-04-06 09:24

MUSCAT, Oman -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates met Saturday with this Gulf nation's supreme leader, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, marking the second high-level Bush administration visit in as many months to a longtime ally that has friendly relations with Iran.

Vice President Dick Cheney was here in mid-March to meet with Qaboos to discuss Iran and to reaffirm Washington's appreciation for Oman's longtime support for fighting terrorism.

US President George W. Bush, center, walks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, left, and US Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, right, as they arrive at the Palace of Parliament on the final day of the NATO Summit, Friday, April 4, 2008, in Bucharest, Romania. [Agencies]

Gates made no public remarks in this country, but an aide told reporters accompanying the Pentagon chief that he reaffirmed President Bush's policy of pursuing diplomatic efforts to resolve the international community's conflict with Iran over its nuclear program.

Gates also told the Omani ruler of the Bush administration's concern about Iran supplying arms to insurgent groups in Iraq as well as Afghanistan, according to the aide, who briefed reporters on the closed-door talks on condition that he not be further identified.

Qaboos, who has ruled his country for more than three decades, is seen by the American administration as a keen observer of political trends in the Gulf, including in Iran, which lies across the Strait of Hormuz. Oman and Iran are trading partners and have normal diplomatic relations.

Muscat was the final stop for Gates on a weeklong trip that began at NATO's military headquarters near Mons, Belgium, and included consultations with top Danish government officials in Copenhagen and participation in a NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania.

Oman, with a population of about 2 million people, is a monarchy, and energy production is the engine of its economy.

As a quiet US military ally, Oman allows the United States to use four air bases, including Seeb, the base where Gates' party arrived late Friday night. The bases are used mainly for refueling, logistics and storage of pre-positioned military supplies, including supplies used early in the Iraq war.

Gates said before arriving in Muscat that he wanted to maintain contact with Qaboos and noted that it had been four years since the last visit by an American defense secretary, which was Donald H. Rumsfeld.

Gates headed back to Washington after his talks in Muscat.