US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Sunday urged the international community to work together to bring pressure on the Iranian government rather than its people to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

'If the international community will stand together and bring pressure to bear on the Iranian government, I believe there is still time for sanctions and pressure to work,' he added. 'But we must all work together,' Gates told a news conference in Rome.

'Pressures that are focused on the government of Iran, as opposed to the people of Iran, potentially have greater opportunity to achieve the objective,' he said. – Reuters