Clinton tackles Mideast peace, Muslim ties in Gulf

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Sunday for more pressure on Iran to curb its nuclear program on a Gulf visit aimed at promoting Arab-Israeli peace and improving U.S. ties with the Islamic world.

Speaking at a conference on U.S.-Muslim relations, Clinton solicited regional support to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and she sought to blunt anger at U.S. airline screening policies that many Muslims see as discriminatory, Reuters reported.

Making her first stop on a three-day visit to Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Clinton spend much of her time explaining why the United States believes further U.N. sanctions may be the only way to persuade Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

The West, and many Arab states, believe Iran is using its civil nuclear program as a cover to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has said that the program is simply to generate power so it can export more of its valuable oil and gas.

Clinton acknowledged that U.S. President Barack Obama's approach to Iran had not borne fruit, blaming Iran for refusing to engage and suggesting that a fourth U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution was the only option.

"I would like to figure out a way to handle it in as peaceful an approach possible, and I certainly welcome any meaningful engagement, but ... we don't want to be engaging while they are building their bomb," Clinton said at the U.S.-Islamic World Forum conference.