NCRI – US Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates in a meeting with Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the Omani ruler expressed the Bush administration's concern about Iranian regime supplying arms to insurgent groups in Iraq as well as Afghanistan, according to the aide, who briefed reporters on the closed-door talks.

Gates told Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said that "although we keep all options open with regards to Iran, we remain committed to a diplomatic solution", a senior U.S. defense official said told reporters on the Pentagon chief's flight back to Washington.

Muscat, the Oman's capital 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.

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Article compiled based on wire reports