CAIRO, May 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressed on Tuesday the desire of his country to further security cooperation between Washington and Cairo, saying that Egypt is one of the most important U.S. partners in the Middle East.

    Gates discussed in a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Iran's nuclear issue, the Palestinian issue, the situation in Iraq among other topics of common interest, reported local Nilenews TV.

    The minister said that his country considers Egypt one of the most important partners, referring to the continuous cooperation between the two countries, hoping to extend this cooperation in education and training fields in addition to achieving more cooperation in security affairs.

    As for Iran's issue, gates explained that Washington pursue to stop Iran's nuclear weapons program, saying that there is a chance to press on Iran to change its activities and behavior in the Middle East.