DEMARCHE RESPONSE: IRAN EXTREMISM

UNCLAS SAN JOSE 002564

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA/CEN JASON MACK

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PTER PHUM CS
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE RESPONSE: IRAN EXTREMISM

REF: STATE 199225


1. Poloff delivered reftel talking points to Carlos Cordero,
Chief of Multilateral Affairs at the MFA, on October 31.
That same evening, Foreign Minister Roberto Tovar released a
statement to the press and diplomatic community condemning
the inflammatory rhetoric of Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad. The GOCR expressed its belief that
Ahmadinejad's statements are contrary to international law
and the precepts of the United Nations, and expressed its
hope for peace and a negotiated settlement in the Middle
East. Poloff followed up with Cordero on November 1, and
expressed our appreciation for the GOCR statement against the
Iranian rhetoric. Cordero told us that the text of the GOCR
statement had been circulated as a diplomatic note to all
members of the U.N. and had been presented directly to the
Iranian delegation there.


2. Begin text of Post's unofficial translation of the
statement:
Minister of Foreign Affairs Roberto Tovar Faja expressed that
the Government of Costa Rica has received with deep concern
the declarations of the President of the Islamic Republic of
Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, at the forum, "A World Without
Zionism," held in Teheran, urging that the State of Israel be
"wiped off the map."

The Government of Costa Rica views the statements of the
Iranian president as contrary to the essential principles of
international public law, as well as inconsistent with the
core principles of the United Nations, of which both Iran and
Israel are member states. It is not acceptable for a member
state of the world body to express, through its chief of
state, such grave and unacceptable statements, which attack
the values of international peace and security and against
the sovereign existence of another member state.

Costa Rica rejects these statements and reaffirms its hope
that the situation in the Middle East can be solved in a
negotiated way, which respects the rights of the involved
parties and permits a peaceful and constructive coexistence
of the Israelis and Palestinians.
End text.
FRISBIE