S E C R E T PARIS 001225

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2015
TAGS: KNNP PARM PREL TRGY MNUC IR UK FR IAEA GE
SUBJECT: IRAN-EU3: FEBRUARY 24 MEETING BETWEEN FRENCH
PRESIDENT CHIRAC AND IRANIAN NUCLEAR NEGOTIATOR HASSAN
RUHANI


Classified By: Political Minister/Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt for reaso
ns 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. SUMMARY. Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Ruhani,
on one stop of a tour that will include visits to each EU3
capital, met with French President Jacques Chirac February

24. Chirac's Middle East advisor, Dominique Boche, told us
that Ruhani's purpose was to move the discussions from the
technical to the political level. According to Boche, Chirac
was firm with Ruhani, calling for objective guarantees that
Iran's nuclear program will not be used to develop weapons.
END SUMMARY.


2. (S) Boche said that Ruhani had requested the meeting with
Chirac and was employing a familiar Iranian tactic of trying
to move a technical negotiation to the political level.
Boche said that by "politicizing" the talks, in this case
taking them to the highest political echelon, the Iranians
hoped to maximize the chances of an outcome most favorable to
them. Boche added that he thought Ruhani would do the same
in London and Berlin.


3. (S) According to Boche, Chirac was firm in response to
Ruhani, calling for "objective guarantees" by Iran and
"permanent measures" to ensure that Iran does not develop
nuclear weapons. Boche said that to achieve this objective,
Chirac told Ruhani that France is prepared to engage in a
"global dialogue" with Iran, recognizing its importance in
the region. Boche added that Chirac told Ruhani that Iran
needs to "join up with the new reality in the region." Boche
said, however, that the next steps are to continue with the
technical negotiations between Iran and the EU3.


4. (S) Boche said that the GOF is eager to learn the U.S.
reaction to the recent discussion between President Bush and
Chirac including the proposals for aircraft sales to Iran and
Iranian WTO candidacy as potential incentives in the Iran -
EU3 negotiations.


5. (U) While no official statements about the meeting have
been released, presidential spokesman Jerome Bonnafont told
reporters that Chirac called for Iranian guarantees that it
would not use its nuclear program for military purposes and
said that Tehran stands to gain international cooperation on
its civil nuclear program as well as in the areas of trade,
politics and security if it does. Ruhani, meanwhile, granted
an interview to the French daily Le Monde to be published in
its February 26 issue. In the interview Ruhani accused the
Europeans of being "incapable of keeping promises" saying
that they have done nothing to help Iran acquire Airbus
airplanes or gain entry in the WTO. He said that the
negotiations are going slower than Iran had hoped and added
that the principal problem is coming to an understanding of
the term "objective guarantees," which Iran interprets
differently than the EU3. When asked if Iran was building
tunnels to hide its nuclear technology, Ruhani said it "could
be true."
Wolff