FACTBOX: Gen. Petraeus on Iran, Syria, Pakistan

(Reuters) - Gen. David Petraeus, nominated to the military's top Middle East post, on Thursday criticized the role of Iran and Syria in the region and said the next major al Qaeda attack would likely originate in Pakistan.

Following are some of Petraeus' comments on security issues covered during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to consider his nomination as head of U.S. Central Command.

IRAN

Petraeus said the United States should increase diplomatic and economic pressure to force Iran to stop supporting militias in Iraq and Islamist groups in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. He called military action a "last resort."

"Our efforts in regard to Iran must involve generating international cooperation and building regional consensus to counter malign Iranian influence and destabilizing activities, while also striving to promote more constructive engagement, if that is possible."

Petraeus accused Iran of providing new weapons and weapons components made as recently as February and offering training and other support to Iraqi militias despite Tehran's promise to Baghdad to cease those activities.

"It's evident. It's not supposition," he said.

PAKISTAN

Petraeus said al Qaeda's top leaders were inside Pakistan's remote and ungoverned border region, known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and that the group's next major attack would likely originate there.

He characterized al Qaeda's presence in the FATA as a Pakistani problem with global repercussions and said the United States should support Islamabad's counter-terrorism efforts.

"Clearly, al Qaeda senior leadership has been strengthened in the FATA."

"The organization of an attack, if you will, would likely come from the FATA."

"This is a Pakistani problem that has both repercussions, that does create enormous violence inside Pakistan but ... has global implications as well."

SYRIA

Petraeus said Syria had not done enough to stop al Qaeda fighters from crossing its border into Iraq. He accused Syria of supporting violence in Lebanon and pursuing a nuclear weapons program.

"The region obviously would be more secure were Syria to realize that neither harboring terrorist facilitators nor sparking a regional arms race is in Syria's best interest. As with Iran, the challenge with Syria will be to find approaches that can convince Syrian leaders that they should be part of the solution in the region rather than a continuing part of the problem."

(Reporting by Kristin Roberts, Editing by Anthony Boadle)