FM FRATTINI TELLS IRANIAN FM KHARRAZI TO TOE THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 001596 SIPDIS DEPT FOR NP E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/23/2014 TAGS: PREL PGOV IT IR KNNR IAEA SUBJECT: FM FRATTINI TELLS IRANIAN FM KHARRAZI TO TOE THE IAEA LINE REF: NP-ROME EMAIL 4-22 CLASSIFIED BY: POLOFF JIM DONEGAN. REASON: 1.5 (B)(D) ¶1. (C) POST READ WITH INTEREST READOUT (REF) INDICATING THAT IRANIAN NEWS AGENCY IRNA REPORTED THAT FM FRATTINI TOLD IRANIAN FM KHARRAZI THAT IRAN'S POSITION ON COOPERATING WITH THE IAEA WAS "DEFENSIBLE AND UNDERSTANDABLE" AND "CREDIBLE". ACCORDING TO MFA IRAN DESK OFFICER FEDERICA FERRARI BRAVO (WHO SERVED 4 YEARS IN IRAN SO KNOWS WELL HOW THE IRANIAN PRESS WORKS) AND HER BOSS, GULF STATES OFFICE DIRECTOR LUIGI MACCOTTA, FRATTINI SAID NO SUCH THING DURING THE APRIL 19 MEETING. THEY TOLD POLOFF THAT WHEN THE CONVERSATION TURNED TO IAEA ISSUES, FRATTINI REINFORCED ITALY'S LONG-STATED POSITION THAT IRAN MUST ENHANCE ITS COOPERATION WITH THE IAEA INSPECTION REGIME. ¶2. (C) POLOFF REVIEWED WITH FERRARI-BRAVO A NUMBER OF TRANSCRIPTS AND ITALIAN WIRE REPORTING, AS WELL AS THE MFA STATEMENT (FORWARDED TO NP ON UNCLAS EMAIL). THERE WAS NO INDICATION THAT FRATTINI HAD CONVEYED THE MESSAGE INDICATED BY IRNA. THE ONE QUOTE IT COULD HAVE SEIZED ON AND TWISTED WAS FRATTINI'S OBSERVATION THAT ITALY UNDERSTANDS THAT IRAN HAS TO DEAL WITH SECURITY ISSUES, BUT HE FOLLOWED IMMEDIATELY WITH THE WARNING THAT ANY THOUGHT OF SOLVING SUCH CONCERNS WITH A NUCLEAR CAPABILITY WAS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. VISIT ROME'S CLASSIFIED WEBSITE: HTTP://WWW.STATE.SGOV.GOV/P/EUR/ROME/INDEX.CF M SKODON NNNN 2004ROME01596 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL