IAEA/IRAN: CANADA SAYS IT WILL SUPPORT OUR EFFORTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L OTTAWA 001670 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/12/2013 TAGS: KNNP PARM MNUC IR CA IAEA SUBJECT: IAEA/IRAN: CANADA SAYS IT WILL SUPPORT OUR EFFORTS TO GET BOG RESOLUTION REF: (A) STATE 158048 (B) UNVIE 621 (C) OTTAWA 1556 Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Stephen R. Kelly, Reasons 1.5 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Canadian Deputy Foreign Minister Lavertu told DCM on June 12 that Canada will support our efforts to get a formal resolution on Iran at the June 16 IAEA Board of Governors (BOG) meeting (ref. A). Despite the Canadian delegation's skepticism in Vienna that such a resolution will be attainable (ref. B),Lavertu said Canada will be with us. Should a resolution prove impossible, he continued, Canada will work with us on an alternative, unambiguous message from the BOG meeting. Lavertu said that in addition to the tough messages he and Foreign Minister Graham delivered to their Iranian counterparts in Tehran and Paris, respectively (ref. C),he met with the Iranian Ambassador in Ottawa after the June 6 release of the IAEA report. Lavertu reiterated Canada's strong concerns, and told the Ambassador that it was most unusual for a preliminary IAEA report to be so strongly worded. ¶2. (C) Terry Wood, Foreign Affairs Deputy Director for Nonproliferation, told us the Canadian Embassy in Tehran attended AEOI President Aghazadeh's June 9 briefing in Tehran (ref. B),and that there were a number of factual errors in Aghazadeh's presentation. Wood said Aghazadeh downplayed Iran's non-declarations as insignificant oversights, and described an additional protocol as "no big deal" because only two countries with significant nuclear programs have signed one thus far. Agazadeh warned that if the pressure continues, Iran will limit its cooperation with the IAEA. ¶3. (C) Wood said that Canada is preparing a robust intervention for the BOG meeting. He underscored Canada's particular concern about the "Kalaye Electric" site, saying that Canada had an intelligence source in the late 1990s who made them aware of nuclear activity there. CELLUCCI