RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Saudi Arabia has told Iran not to count on the kingdom's help if the international community imposes harsher measures on Tehran because of its refusal to abide by international requirements on the nuclear issue.

At a meeting in Riyadh last month, King Abdullah told visiting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Iran will have to "bear the consequences" of its actions, and should not underestimate the power, capabilities or will of the United States and the rest of the international community, according to a Saudi official.

"We told him, 'Don't come back to us and say you wish somebody had told you that,'" the official said. "Don't come back and ask for help."

The king was equally blunt with Syrian President Bashar Assad, whom he met in Riyadh on the sidelines of the Arab summit last month. Abdullah told Assad that if he wants to improve relations with Saudi Arabia -- which are at an all-time low -- he first has to prove his good intentions in Lebanon, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issues.

Abdullah's words to the two close allies -- Iran and Syria -- come amid Saudi worries that the two countries' defiance of the international community could plunge the region into larger chaos than the turmoil that resulted from Saddam Hussein's refusal to come clean on his weapons of mass destruction program.

Saudis believe the U.S.-led 2003 war on Iraq has failed to stabilize that country, deepened Sunni-Shiite rifts in the region and allowed mostly Shiite Persian Iran to become the most influential power in Iraq.

At the same time, Iran has expanded its influence in Lebanon, among the Palestinians and in Gulf states such as Bahrain and Kuwait while improving its missiles and expanding a nuclear program that the West says aims to eventually produce bombs. Iran says the program is peaceful.

Tehran has also cemented its ties with longtime ally Syria, which is under pressure from the international community to stop its support for the Iranian-backed Hezbollah that is trying to topple the Lebanese government.

Damascus is also being pressured to cooperate with efforts to set up an international tribunal to prosecute suspects in the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri. Anti-Syrians blame Damascus for the murder but Syria has denied the accusations.

Last month, the U.N. Security Council voted to impose new sanctions on Iran -- the second in three months -- for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment. On Monday, Ahmadinejad defied the U.N. demands, saying Iran has begun operating 3,000 centrifuges.

Iran's rise has disturbed Saudi Arabia, which is ringed by Shiite populations in Kuwait, Iraq, Bahrain and Yemen.

Some analysts say that if attacked, Iran would retaliate against U.S. interests in the region -- and Saudi Arabia's oil installations across the Gulf are the biggest and most important. The kingdom is the world's largest oil producer and any disruption in its exports would seriously affect supplies to the United States and cause oil prices to soar.

In an effort to contain the situation, Saudi Arabia has launched an aggressive and public diplomatic push.

The kingdom is also trying to disengage Tehran from crises that the region's Sunni Muslim leaders believe are none of Persian Iran's business, such as the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, inter-Palestinian fighting and Lebanon's simmering tensions.

Several weeks ago, the Saudis sponsored a meeting of feuding Palestinian factions in the holy city of Mecca that resulted in an agreement to form a national unity government.

But analysts say that although Abdullah will explore every diplomatic avenue to avoid war in the region, there's only so much the kingdom can do.

"Saudi Arabia is not in a position to stop Iran from making a bomb or in a position to stop the Americans from bombing Iran," said Jamal Khashoggi, who until recently was media adviser to Prince Turki, the former Saudi ambassador to Washington.

"The most it can do is give advice similar to that it gave the U.S. -- not to launch the war on Iraq. But the Saudis couldn't stop the Americans from doing it," added Khashoggi, who is now editor of Al-Watan newspaper.

Asked if Saudi Arabia would act as a go-between if the situation between Iran and the international community came to a head, the Saudi official said: "If a decision is taken by the Security Council, what can we do? What do you think we are, Mother Teresa?"

Political analyst Dawood al-Shirian said Saudi Arabia's tough words to Iran and Syria are significant.

"It's as if Saudi Arabia feels that something is going to happen and it wants to show that it did not want -- and has nothing to do with -- whatever might happen," said al-Shirian.

"It wants to absolve itself of any responsibility," he added.