U.S.-INDIA CIVIL NUCLEAR COOPERATION INITIATIVE;

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 000945 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/13/2016 TAGS: PREL ENRG KSCA IN PARM KNNP ETTC IR AE SUBJECT: U.S.-INDIA CIVIL NUCLEAR COOPERATION INITIATIVE; IRAN PLAYING FOR TIME REF: A. STATE 34761 ¶B. ABU DHABI 910 ¶C. ABU DHABI 257 Classified By: DCM Martin Quinn, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) In March 11 meeting with MFA Asst U/S Tariq Al Haidan, DCM delivered reftel A points which were taken on board. Discussion of President Bush's recent visit to India segued into the more urgent issue of Iranian nuclear ambitions. ¶2. (C) Al Haidan, a former UAE ambassador to Tehran, stated his conviction that Iran has two reasons for wanting to acquire nuclear weapons: (1) to preserve and safeguard its Islamic Revolution, and (2) to control or dominate the Gulf region. Although he had been away from the country during recent visit to UAE of Iranian Deputy FM Mostafawi, Al Haidan said the Iranians have the impression that they have already made considerable progress on the path toward acquiring nuclear weaponry and are content to play for time while accelerating their research efforts in the hope of achieving an early breakthrough. At the same time, he said, the only thing that would make Iran reverse its course and accede to international community's requests would be the realization that they had come to a scientific/technological roadblock and would not be able to achieve their goal in a timely enough fashion. ¶3. (C) Asked whether how persuasive the UAE could be, as a Gulf neighbor, in changing Iran's mind on the nuclear issue, he looked perplexed and said the UAE just has not been able to get through on this point which Tehran sees as a matter of its vital interest. SISON