TALABANI DISCUSSES RUSSIA, IRAN, SYRIA, AND IRAQI

S E C R E T STATE 176974


E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/23/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL UN IZ RU SY
SUBJECT: TALABANI DISCUSSES RUSSIA, IRAN, SYRIA, AND IRAQI
POLITICS WITH A/S WELCH AT UNGA

Classified By: NEA A/S C. David Welch, reason 1.4 (d).


1. (U) September 14, 6:00 P.M., New York, UNGA


2. (U) Participants:

USG
---

NEA A/S C. David Welch
NEA PDAS Elizabeth L. Cheney
Prem Kumar (NEA/I/POL notetaker)

Iraq
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President Jalal Talabani
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari
President,s Chief of Staff Kameron Karadaghi
U.S. PUK Representative Qubad Talabani


3. (S) SUMMARY. Reviewing their UNGA consultations with NEA
A/S Welch September 14, Iraqi President Talabani and Foreign
Minister Zebari said Russian President Putin had pledged to
cooperate to renew the MNF-I mandate as the expiration of
UNSC resolution 1546 approaches. They praised the USG,s
tough public line on Syria and pledged to deliver strong
messages to Damascus and other Arab capitals that Syria must
increase its support for Iraq. Talabani predicted Iran would
continue to make life difficult for the USG and Iraq by
continuing its nuclear program while holding out the
possibility of undermining stability in Iraq. On Iraq's
political process, Talabani suggested that the Kurds could
work with moderate Arabs to defeat Islamist parties in the
December election, but appealed for direct USG financial
support to do so. He pledged the Kurds would continue to
work to bring Sunni Arabs into the political process, and
predicted that despite reports to the contrary, neither Prime
Minister Ja,afari nor former PM Allawi would oppose the
draft constitution. END SUMMARY.

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RUSSIA
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4. (S) Reviewing his meeting with Russian President Putin at
the UNGA, Talabani said he appealed for Russia to fully
support the Iraqi Transitional Government (ITG) and ensure
that Russian media did so as well (instead of praising
insurgents as "revolutionaries," for example.) Talabani
claimed that Putin "agreed to everything" the Iraqis asked.
He said Putin pledged that Russia would cooperate in the
Security Council to renew the mandate of the Multinational
Force-Iraq (MNF-I) as the end of the political process set
out in of UNSC resolution 1546 approached. Talabani also
said Putin agreed to consult with and respect the wishes of
the ITG on ideas such as an international conference to
promote national reconciliation in Iraq. On Syria, Talabani
said he ignored Putin,s offer to mediate between the Syrian
Government (SARG) and the ITG and that he reminded the
Russian President that Syria was the main source of
terrorists operating inside Iraq.

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SYRIA
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5. (S) Talabani and Zebari both praised Amb. Khalilzad,s
recent public remarks about Syria and noted that those points
had been delivered at just the right time. Talabani charged
that the SARG was "deliberately supporting" former Ba'athists
in Iraq and was allowing the Iraqi Ba,ath Party Central
Command to operate training camps across Syria. He noted
that the SARG had so much control over its borders that it
could prevent birds from crossing over, but yet had done
little to prevent foreign fighters from leaving Syria for
Iraq. Zebari said he had reinforced Amb. Khalilzad,s points
on Syria with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa.


6. (S) Talabani said that upon his return to the region, he
would "frighten" the Syrians by telling them that they were
now "in trouble" because the USG might opt for regime change.
He added half-jokingly that he would also warn the SARG of
possible Sunni Arab moves to challenge Alawite dominance in
Syria. Welch appealed to the Iraqis to continue taking a
tough public line on Syria -- especially on September 19 and
20, when the ministerial meeting on Lebanon would highlight
Syria,s negative role elsewhere in the region. Zebari
promised to oblige.


7. (C) Foreign Minister Zebari noted that the Syrians had
claimed that Syrian President Bashar al-Asad was not coming
to the UNGA because the USG had refused his visa. Welch
clarified that al-Asad chose not to attend UNGA not because
of a visa issue but because he thought he would be
embarrassed by Syria,s diplomatic isolation. Syria then
belatedly decided to send Foreign Minister Shara,a to the
UNGA, Welch noted.

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IRAN
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8. (C) Despite his meeting Iranian President Ahmadinejad at
UNGA, Talabani said that he felt like he still did not know
the new Iranian leader. Zebari recalled that when he
accompanied Iraqi Prime Minister Ja,afari to Tehran,
Ahmadinejad appeared to be a true "son of the revolution" who
reported directly to Ayatollah Khameinei. Zebari said
Ja,afari had argued with Ahmadinejad in Tehran that the
cause of violence in Iraq was not foreign occupation but
rather Ba'athist and extremist ideology. The new Iranian
Foreign Minister, Zebari added, was an "ideological Muslim"
who had been expelled from Turkey when he was Iran,s
Ambassador there because he had fomented unrest among Turkish
Islamists.


9. (S) Talabani predicted that Iran would continue to make
life difficult for the USG and ITG by "looking for the bomb"
while holding out the possibility that Iran could undermine
stability in Iraq. Talabani averred that Iran had a secret
agreement with Syria to work together in Iraq. As evidence,
the Iraqi President pointed to a conference of Iraqi
insurgents in Beirut that had been guarded by Hizballah --
which he said could not have occurred without Iran,s
knowledge and support. Talabani added that after Iran,s
recent elections, the situation in Iran had become
increasingly unstable. Iranian Kurds were "boiling," Iranian
Arabs were very upset, the Turcomen and Baluchis were
agitated, and the opposition was growing in strength.

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CONSTITUTION AND POLITICAL PROCESS
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10. (S) Talabani said the USG and the Kurds should
"coordinate on all levels for the (December) election" and
appealed directly for USG financial support for moderate
parties. He suggested that the Kurds could arrange joint
lists with moderate Arabs to help them win seats, but that
neither the Kurds nor moderate Arabs could afford to let the
Islamists win the December ballot. Welch urged Talabani and
KRG President Masud Barzani (the head of Zebari,s political
party) to honor their promises to the USG to ensure Sunni
Arab participation in Iraq,s political process. Talabani,
who claimed to speak for Barzani as well, pledged that the
Kurds would do their best to ensure inclusiveness.

12. (S) Asked about reports that PM Ja,afari and former PM
Allawi were against the draft constitution, Talabani
predicted that neither would come out against the text.
Despite what he acknowledged as deep antipathy for Ja,afari
("I hate him"),Talabani assessed that the PM would not cross
the USG. He suggested Barzani could influence Allawi, but
also advised the USG to urge Allawi as soon as possible to
support the constitution.


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