CANADA: IRANIAN NOMINEE TO BE AMBASSADOR IN OTTAWA

C O N F I D E N T I A L OTTAWA 001857

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR P, WHA/CAN AND NEA/ARPI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/20/2015
TAGS: PREL IR CA
SUBJECT: CANADA: IRANIAN NOMINEE TO BE AMBASSADOR IN OTTAWA

REF: STATE 114104

Classified By: POL M/C Brian Flora, reasons 1.4 (b/d)


1. (C) Charge delivered reftel demarche, regarding the
appointment of Ahmad Azizi as Iran's ambassador to Canada, to
Peter Boehm, Assistant Deputy Minister (North America) at
Foreign Affairs Canada (FAC),on June 20. Boehm, referring
to the conversation last week between Under Secretary
Nicholas Burns and Assistant Deputy Minister Jim Wright,
welcomed the opportunity for us to present more information
about our opposition to Azizi's appointment as Ambassador to
Canada.


2. (C) Boehm emphasized that no decision had been made on
whether to accredit Azizi, and reiterated that the GoC had
been deliberating this issue for some time. In response to
Charge's question on the timeline for a decision, Boehm
(protect) said that Tehran had been pushing Ottawa to make a
decision before the Iranian elections last week. Boehm
couldn't provide a definitive timeline, but he gave his
assurance that FAC would share with us whatever decision was
made, before it was announced publicly.


3. (C) Continuing, Boehm said that FAC was in the process of
checking with other missions on Azizi's history, given
reports that Azizi might be considered a relative moderate
(or one of the "good guys," as Boehm put it). In addition,
he noted that Azizi had served previously as Iran's
Ambassador to Germany. Boehm also stressed that the GoC had
to consider its own bilateral relationship with Iran when
making this decision, and the possible adverse impact a
rejection of Azizi might have, particularly in terms of
Ottawa's influence with Tehran on ongoing nuclear and human
rights issues in Iran.


4. (C) In a parallel meeting, POL M/C registered U.S.
concerns at a senior level in the Privy Council Office (PCO).
He met with Phil Ventura, the Assistant Secretary to the
Cabinet for U.S.-Canada relations to make sure the PCO was
aware of how strongly we felt about the Azizi nomination and
the irritation his acceptance by Ottawa would cause among
senior U.S. officials. Ventura said he was preoccupied with
SPP matters and was only vaguely aware of the discussion
surrounding Azizi. He agreed that it should be brought
forward for senior PCO review, and promised to raise the
issue with the Prime Minister's Senior Foreign Policy
Advisor, Jonathan Fried.



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