GOF CONTINUES TO ADVISE IRAN AGAINST INTERFERENCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 001716

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/06/2014
TAGS: PREL ASEC IZ IR FR
SUBJECT: GOF CONTINUES TO ADVISE IRAN AGAINST INTERFERENCE
IN IRAQI POLITICS

REF: STATE 41597

Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt, reasons
1.5 (b) and (d).


1. (C) We discussed reftel points on Iranian interference in
Iraq with MFA Iraq desk officer Renaud Salins March 11.
Salins confirmed to us that the GoF continued to regularly
remind Iran of its responsibilities of non-interference in
Iraq and the need for Iran to play a constructive role as
Iraq's neighbor. Salins affirmed the GoF view that Iran has
the greatest nuisance capacity of any of Iraq's neighbors,
but concluded that the Iranian government had shown restraint
and "could have done much more" to cause problems in Iraq.
That said, the GoF had no problems raising the
non-interference issue with the Iranian government, and would
continue to do so.


2. (C) Salins observed that additional factors, such as
Iranian government connections to many of the Iraqi Shi'a
"List 169" political leaders and ties between Iranian and
Iraqi Shi'a clergy, would make it difficult to limit Iranian
influence over the Iraqi Transitional Government (ITG).
Salins commented that during his earlier diplomatic posting
in Tehran in the mid 1990's, he recalled that Dawa leader
Ibrahim Ja'fari was active in soliciting support from
Tehran-based diplomats for a local NGO to assist Iraqi
refugees in Iran -- an activity presumably backed by the
Iranian government. Salins recalled meeting Ja'fari's
Canadian-born wife in Tehran at an event organized by the
NGO, and was suprised to find that she would not shake his
hand, presumably due to strict religious beliefs. Salins
also cited the ties between Iraqi and Iranian Shi'a clergy as
another "vector of influence" for Iran over Iraqi affairs.
He noted that during the recent out-of-country voting (OCV)
for Iran-based Iraqis, the highest vote totals -- some 15,000
-- were among Iraqis based in Qom. He speculated that this
15,000 figure, some 5 percent of Qom's estimated population,
represented in large part Iran-based Iraqi Shi'a clergy,
since Qom had no notable industry or commercial activity
apart from serving as Iran's theocratic base. Salins added
that the January 2005 OCV election data provided the first
concrete basis on which to estimate the number of Iraqi Shi'a
clergy still residing in Iran.


3. (U) Baghdad minimize considered.
Leach