DEMARCHES ON NAM AND OIC STATEMENTS ABOUT IRAN'S

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABIDJAN 000652

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/16/2016
TAGS: PREL AORC KNNP UNSC IV IR
SUBJECT: DEMARCHES ON NAM AND OIC STATEMENTS ABOUT IRAN'S
NUCLEAR PROGRAM

REF: A. STATE 89324


B. STATE 96389

Classified By: POL/ECON Jim Wojtasiewicz, reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).


1. (C) POL/ECON Counselor and Deputy POL/ECON Counselor
delivered a demarche June 16 to Ambassador Bernard Tanoh
Boutchoue, Director for the United Nations and Specialized
Agencies at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressing U.S.
disappointment with the statement on Iran's nuclear program
that emerged from the May 27-30 Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)
meeting in Malaysia (ref A) and to urge that the Organization
of the Islamic Conference (OIC) issue a clear message at the
June 19-21 OIC meeting in Baku, encouraging Iran to accept
the incentives package conveyed by EU foreign policy chief
Javier Solana on behalf of the U.S., and our European
partners, as well as Russia and China, and immediately
suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities
(ref B).


2. (C) Ambassador Boutchoue underscored that Cote d'Ivoire,
as a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT),
considers the Iran nuclear issue to be purely a matter of
international rule of law. Unfortunately, some of the larger
Asian and Latin American countries at the May NAM meeting
wrongly viewed this issue through the prism of what they
perceive as a geopolitical struggle by the North to dominate
the South, and insisted on pushing through a statement
defending Iran's nuclear rights and ignoring the dangerous
threat that Iran's nuclear program poses to the international
nonproliferation regime. Ambassador Boutchoue acknowledged
that many OIC members similarly view the Iran nuclear issue
through the prism of what they perceive as a geopolitical
struggle by the West to dominate the Muslim world. However,
he expressed the hope that now that the U.S., EU, Russia and
China have adopted a common position, moderate OIC members
like Cote d'Ivoire will have a better chance of keeping the
OIC's focus where it belongs, on the need for Iran to meet
its international obligations and abandon its pursuit of
nuclear weapons. He promised to pass a message to Foreign
Minister Bakayoko, who is currently in Chad en route to Baku,
highlighting U.S. interest in seeing a strong statement of
OIC support for the U.S./EU/Russia/China common position on
Iran's nuclear program.
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