By Andrew Gray

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday the United States had probably underestimated how hard it would be for Iraqi political leaders to agree reconciliation measures.

Gates, speaking at the end of a Middle East tour, also said he had urged countries in the region to redouble efforts to pressure Iran over its nuclear program, declaring “there’s not really room for bystanders.”

He said he was more optimistic now than several months ago that increased U.S. troop levels could improve security in Iraq, but political progress had proved harder than anticipated.

The main Sunni Muslim bloc quit Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s Shi’ite-led government on Wednesday, underscoring how difficult relations are between political groups.

“We probably all underestimated the depth of the mistrust and how difficult it would be for these guys to come together on legislation which, let’s face it, is not just some sort of secondary kind of thing,” Gates said.

“The kinds of legislation they’re talking about establish the framework of Iraq for the future, so it’s almost like our constitutional convention,” he told reporters aboard his plane as he flew back to the United States.

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