TFIZ01: MUASHER SAYS STORY ON RESUMPTION OF OIL

S E C R E T AMMAN 001881 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/29/2013 TAGS: PREL MOPS EPET IZ JO SUBJECT: TFIZ01: MUASHER SAYS STORY ON RESUMPTION OF OIL TANKER TRAFFIC BETWEEN JORDAN AND IRAQ MOST LIKELY NOT TRUE Classified By: A/DCM Doug Silliman for reasons 1.5 (B) and (D) ¶1. (S) The Ambassador raised with Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher March 29 local press reports that as many as thirty Jordanian oil tanker trucks have returned to Iraq to restart the delivery of Iraqi crude to Jordan. The Ambassador said he found the reports beyond comprehension. In response to a specific Jordanian request two days ago to resume deliveries of Iraqi crude via road, we had told them that we could not agree to any heavy truck traffic on the Amman-Baghdad highway moving east to west. The Ambassador commented that, in fact, he had checked with the U.S. military in the region and did not believe that tankers had actually gone back to Iraq. He asked for confirmation from the GOJ that this was correct. ¶2. (S) He repeated warnings that it would be extremely dangerous for tanker trucks to try to resume crude oil deliveries. Fighting continued in western Iraq. Coalition forces dominated the area, but have not yet secured the Amman-Baghdad highway, nor the road to the oil loading terminal near H-1. Further, the Ambassador pointed out the dire consequences to U.S.-Jordanian relations if coalition or Iraqi forces were accidentally to kill a Jordanian oil truck driver. The public outcry would be almost uncontrollable. The GOJ would find itself in an impossible position. The damage from such an incident would far outweigh any gain Jordan would receive by resuming a small fraction of its oil imports from Iraq -- imports not needed since alternate sources had been secured. ¶3. (S) Muasher said he did not believe the reports to be true, but pledged he would check into them and respond quickly. He agreed that the risks of restarting land transit of Iraqi oil under the current conditions far outweighed the possible benefits. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶4. (S) Our military colleagues in Task Force - West report that no Jordanian oil tankers have crossed the Iraqi border in recent days. While it appears that this press story may not be true, we felt it necessary to set down a strong marker against any resumption of oil shipments to Jordan while hostilities are ongoing in Iraq. From a more long-term perspective, the Ambassador reminded the Foreign Minister that a mutually agreed condition to our supplemental economic assistance was an end to Jordanian dependency on "subsidized" Iraqi oil. GNEHM