Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05BERLIN2235
2005-07-01 13:37:00
SECRET
Embassy Berlin
Cable title:  

FM FISCHER ON IRAN

Tags:  IAEA KNNP MNUC PREL EU IR GM 
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O 011337Z JUL 05
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7737
INFO AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 
CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 
USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA PRIORITY 
USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY
S E C R E T BERLIN 002235 

DEPT FOR T, NP, AC, EUR/AGS, EUR/PRA, AND NEA/NGA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/29/2015
TAGS: IAEA KNNP MNUC PREL EU IR GM
SUBJECT: FM FISCHER ON IRAN

Classified By: Acting Pol M/C Kris Pelz; reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)


S E C R E T BERLIN 002235

DEPT FOR T, NP, AC, EUR/AGS, EUR/PRA, AND NEA/NGA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/29/2015
TAGS: IAEA KNNP MNUC PREL EU IR GM
SUBJECT: FM FISCHER ON IRAN

Classified By: Acting Pol M/C Kris Pelz; reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)



1. (S) During a meeting on June 29 with visiting New Mexico
Governor Bill Richardson, Foreign Minister Fischer said he
was extremely concerned about Iran after the election of
President Ahmadinejad. He said no one expected Ahmadinejad's
victory, least of all Iranian negotiators on the nuclear
issue who Fischer said were "in shock" after the election
results came in. Fischer said German policy would be driven
by the concrete steps taken by the Iranian government over
the next several months. He emphasized that an Iran with a
nuclear weapons capability is unacceptable. Fischer added
that Iran wants to acquire an enrichment capability, but its
nuclear program does not make sense in civilian terms. He
said the technology they are pursuing has long been outmoded
as a source of peaceful nuclear energy. Fischer also noted
that the Iranian missile program is not aimed at delivering
conventional warheads.


2. (S) Fischer added that closer American cooperation with
the EU-3 in recent months had boosted the West's leverage
with Iran. President Bush's meeting with Chancellor
Schroeder this week in Washington had, in Fischer's view,
gone well. However, Fischer emphasized that the outlook for
Iran is "grim." Iran's desire to acquire nuclear weapons and
its rejectionist policy toward Israel both present huge
problems, he said. Israel's reaction to current
circumstances in Iran is unclear, he said, further
complicating the situation. Fischer noted that sanctions on
Iran would send the price of oil much higher, with huge
consequences for the world economy. According to Fischer,
only the closest possible cooperation between Europe and the
United States offers hope for a solution. Even with close
cooperation, he said, the outlook is very uncertain.


CLOUD