BOUTEFLIKA URGES IRANIAN COOPERATION ON NUCLEAR

C O N F I D E N T I A L ALGIERS 000692

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/06/2015
TAGS: PREL KNNP AG IR IAEA
SUBJECT: BOUTEFLIKA URGES IRANIAN COOPERATION ON NUCLEAR
ISSUES

Classified By: Ambassador Richard W. Erdman; reasons 1.4 (B)(D)


1. (C) Ambassador took advantage of April 5 meeting on other
issues with Presidential Chief of Staff Belkheir to inquire
about the April 2-4 visit to Algeria of Iranian Defense
Minister Shamkhani. Belkheir said the visit was part of a
programmed exchange of bilateral visits, reciprocated the
visit of former Armed Forces Chief of Staff Lamari to Iran a
year ago, and took place after being postponed once or twice
for various reasons. Asked what message Algeria sought to
convey during the visit, Belkheir said President Bouteflika
sought to encourage dialogue, a responsive Iranian stance on
the nuclear issue, and a general calming of tensions
surrounding the issue.


2. (C) According to Belkheir, Bouteflifka specifically urged
Iran to be responsive to Western overtures and to cooperate
in finding an acceptable solution, specifically citing
explicit U.S. support for the UK/French/German efforts to
achieve an acceptable negotiated solution as well as the
U.S.'s new willingness to support Iran's accession to the
World Trade Organization and to supply aircraft spare parts.
These were significant gestures, Bouteflika repeatedly
stressed, and Iran should find a way to respond positively to
them.


3. (C) Ambassador reminded Belkheir that it was not just the
United States that was concerned about Iran's intentions.
France, the UK, and Germany were concerned as well, and the
IAEA, in its most recent report, had referred to "a
confidence gap" regarding Iran's nuclear activities. One
could not take Iranian protestations of innocence at face
value in view of its two decades of concealing its activities
from the IAEA and continuing failure to be forthright with
the IAEA. Iranian development of a nuclear weapons
capability would be profoundly destabilizing for the region,
and we could not afford to get it wrong. We were not opposed
to the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
We were opposed and concerned about efforts to develop a
nuclear weapons capability under the cover of a civilian
nuclear program. We wanted a diplomatic solution to the
issue but it had to be a real and verifiable solution that
addressed international proliferation concerns.


4. (C) Belkheir agreed that Iran's nuclear activities needed
to be carefully monitored to ensure compliance. In response
to a question, he said that the specific issue of uranium
enrichment did not come up. The discussion was at a more
general level, with Shamkhani asserting Iran's peaceful
nuclear intentions and Bouteflika urging responsiveness to
Western and IAEA concerns. Belkheir said Bouteflika would
have a private dinner with Iranian President Khatami that
evening (April 5) in Paris, where both men were attending a
UNESCO conference, and would continue to press for Iranian
responsiveness and cooperation vis-a-vis Western concerns.


5. (SBU) In terms of the public aspects of the visit, the
Iranian News Agency reported Bouteflika as saying April 3
that mutual relations with Iran and the exchange of
high-ranking delegations at various levels showed the
willingness of the two countries' leaders to promote ties.
The same report indicated that Bouteflika had emphasized the
willingness of Algeria to implement the agreements signed
during Bouteflika's visit to Iran last year and Khatami's
recent return visit to Algeria. Shamkhani reportedly
underscored the geo-political significance of Algeria in the
Maghreb and Africa and called for the expansion of relations
between Iran and Algeria. He also briefed on Iran's defense
and military capabilities and noted that Iran was ready to
provide Algeria with various defense equipment.


6. (SBU) Algerian press reports noted that Shamkhani's visit
was the third of three high-level Iranian visits to Algeria
over the past year, including the visits of President Khatami
last October (2004) and of Iranian National Security Council
Adviser Ruhani this spring. These same accounts have played
up Algeria's (self-assumed) role as a country which has the
ear of both the U.S. and Iran and which is thus
well-positioned to play a calming role on the nuclear issue.
Citing non-official sources, the Algerian press also said
Shamkhani carried a message from senior Iranian officials
stressing Iran's attachment to its right to develop its
nuclear capacities for peaceful purposes. Shamkhani told
Algerian television his visit achieved &good results8 and
was &a positive step towards cooperation between the two
fraternal countries...8

ERDMAN