IRANIAN CONSULATE IN BASRAH

C O N F I D E N T I A L BASRAH 000080 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 5/21/2016 TAGS: PREL IR IZ SUBJECT: IRANIAN CONSULATE IN BASRAH CLASSIFIED BY: Mark Marrano, Deputy Regional Coordinator, REO Basrah, Department of State. REASON: 1.4 (b) ¶1. (C) On May 18, Deputy Regional Coordinator (DRC) and poloff met with Sayed Rajah Al Musawi, Assistant to the Basrah Governor (Independent) to discuss the current political situation. During the course of the meeting, DRC inquired whether the Iranian Consulate was officially opened today (Note: Post received a report that an official delegation from Iran was going to be in Basrah to meet with the Governor and open the new consulate on May 18. End note.) Al Musawi replied that he had gone to the Iranian Consulate the previous week to get visas for himself and his family. He proudly showed DRC and poloff his newly issued Iranian visa in his passport. Al Musawi lamented the current situation in Basrah and lack of recreational activities. He said he was taking his family to Iran in order to take his children to an amusement park. ¶2. (C) Al Musawi said that the Iranian Consulate would not be officially opened until the new government is formed. According to Al Musawi, an Iranian diplomat at the Consulate said that after the formation of the new government, invitations would be issued to local government officials to attend the official opening. He said that the Consulate was issuing a limited number of visas and that it was not yet fully staffed. He did not know whether or not a delegation from Iran had met with Governor Mohammed Mussabeh Al Wae'li. GROSS