IRANIAN ACTIVITY IN IRAQ DEMARCHE DELIVERED

S E C R E T ABU DHABI 003614 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/RA AND NEA/ARPI E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/11/14 TAGS: PREL IR IZ TC SUBJECT: IRANIAN ACTIVITY IN IRAQ DEMARCHE DELIVERED Ref: State 218335 ¶1. (S) Ambassador delivered reftel points to MFA Under Secretary Abdullah Rashid Al Nuaimi on October 11. The SIPDIS Ambassador stated that it was important to have major regional actors like the UAE make known our views about the Government of Iran's (GOI) activities in Iraq. Iran, the Ambassador said, is a source of instability in Iraq. Abdullah Rashid told the Ambassador that the UAEG shares USG concerns and that there was no doubt the GOI was interfering in Iraq's internal affairs. "We know there have been acts of sabotage," he said, and "it is detrimental to stability." ¶2. (S) Abdullah Rashid suggested that it would be most effective if the GCC made a coordinated approach to Iran. The GCC's position should be that Iran's interference in Iraq is detrimental to GCC-Iranian relations, he said. He asked that the USG provide a more detailed account of Iran's negative actions to assist the UAE make this case with the GCC, and for the GCC to use with Iran. ¶3. (S) Abdullah Rashid said that his government is concerned that Iraq's police and military are not yet capable of carrying out their missions. He also noted that some trainees who have benefited from courses overseas, have returned to Iraq and joined militia loyal to Moqtada Al Sadr, or have simply refused their missions. "Security capacity-building is more important than economic capacity- building," Abdullah Rashid said. "You need to have security reconstruction." He said he had delivered a similar message to U/S Larson in discussions on Iraqi reconstruction recently. SISON