America's foes would be 'sorely mistaken' to test Obama, warns Gates

Gates said the US would stay deeply involved in the Middle East and the Gulf under Barack Obama. "I can assure you that a change in administration does not alter our fundamental interests, especially in the Middle East," he told a security conference in Bahrain.

Asked about Iran, he said: "Nobody is after a regime change in Iran. What we're after is a change in policies and behaviour. The president-elect and his team are under no illusions about what Iran has been doing in the region, and is doing in terms of its own weapons programmes."

Many foreign policy experts, including vice-president elect Joe Biden, have suggested enemies of the US will try to provoke a crisis early in Obama's term. But Gates, who will stay on under Obama, said extensive planning has gone into preparing for the transition. "Anyone who thought that the upcoming months might present opportunities to test the new administration would be sorely mistaken," he told the Manama Dialogue conference, organised by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Before heading to Iraq, Gates repeated appeals for Sunni Arab states to support Iraq's US-backed government with full diplomatic relations and forgiveness of Saddam Hussein-era debts.

Sunni Arab powers mistrust Baghdad's government, believing it to be sectarian and too close politically to Shi'ite-dominated Iran. But Gates said Sunni states should welcome close relations with Iraq, partly to keep Iran at arm's length. "There is no doubt that Iran has been heavily engaged in trying to influence the Iraqi government – and has not been a good neighbour," he said.