Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – United States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says United Nations sanctions have created a rift between Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In June, the U.N. slapped a fourth round of economic penalties on Iran after it refused to stall its controversial nuclear program, which the West thinks is aimed at developing a nuclear bomb.

Gates made the comments to a Wall Street Journal meeting in Washington, D.C.

The American diplomat further said that the sanctions had hit Iran hardly that what their leadership had expected, adding that it was indeed causing tensions. “The information we have is that they’ve been surprised by the impact of the sanctions,” Gates said.

“We even have some evidence that Ayatollah Khamenei now is beginning to wonder if President Ahmadinejad is lying to him about the impact of the sanctions on the economy,” Gates added.

Gates further said that a military strike against Iran should be the last option, since it would only unite divided Iranians against the West, and force scientists to take any weapons program further underground.

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