DEMARCHE ON IRANIAN NUCLEAR PROGRAM DELIVERED

C O N F I D E N T I A L ADDIS ABABA 002505 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR IO AND AF/E E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/14/2016 TAGS: PREL IAEA UNSC IR ET SUBJECT: DEMARCHE ON IRANIAN NUCLEAR PROGRAM DELIVERED REF: STATE 149133 Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES, A.I. JANET WILGUS. REASON: 1.4 (D). ¶1. (C) Poloff delivered reftel points on September 13 to Head of the MFA's UN Directorate, Counsellor Abdulkadir Risku, and to UN Directorate officer Eyob Tekalegn. Ethiopia did not want a nuclear Iran, Risku said, and believed that UNSCR 1696 was binding on member states. Risku said he did not know whether Iran would be raised at the NAM Summit, but said considering whether to impose smart sanctions on Iran could divide summit attendees. ¶2. (C) Citing a paper recently received from the Government of Iran, Risku said Iran maintained that it did not have nuclear weapons but was only developing sources of nuclear energy. He acknowledged, however, that Iran needed to provide greater transparency of its activities. ¶3. (U) Risku confirmed that Prime Minister Meles Zenawi will represent Ethiopia at the summit. ¶4. (C) COMMENT: Ethiopia maintains warm relations with Iran. Iran has attempted to court African opinion: Iranian President Ahmadinejad was a keynote speaker at the most recent African Union Summit, held in July in Gambia. END COMMENT. WILGUS