IRAN: GERMAN PARLIAMENT FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BERLIN 001227

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR P, T, ISN/RA, EUR/AGS, EUR/PRA, AND NEA/IR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/04/2016
TAGS: KNNP PARM MNUC PHUM EU GM IR
SUBJECT: IRAN: GERMAN PARLIAMENT FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
CHAIRMAN VISITS TEHRAN

Classified By: Acting Political Minister-Counselor John Lister; reasons
1.4(b) and (d).


1. (SBU) Summary: In a May 4 press conference, Ruprecht
Polenz (CDU),Chairman of the German Parliament's Foreign
Affairs Committee and frequent commentator in the German
media, provided a readout of his May 2-3 visit to Tehran.
Polenz said that the nuclear subject had come to dominate the
public discourse in Iran to the point that it now is
inhibiting further discussion of social and political
reforms. He emphasized that it is essential that Iran "hear
from all sides" that Iran's nuclear program is a serious
concern of the international community, and not just the
United States. Polenz highlighted the importance of
maintaining unity between Europe, the United States, and the
rest of the international community in dealing with Iran. In
that context, Polenz said he believes that, as a next step, a
"weaker" resolution supported by the entire UNSC would be
more important than having a more strongly-worded resolution
that lacks the full support of the UNSC members. Polenz
repeated his previous calls for the United States to engage
in talks with the Iranians regarding the nuclear dispute.
(Comment: Polenz does not argue that the USG should supplant
the EU3 in any future negotiations, but that the USG should
supplement the EU3 effort more directly in some ill-defined
way. End Comment) Polenz also touched briefly on other
topics of his discussions in Tehran, including Iranian
threats against Israel, regional security, and human rights.
End Summary.


2. (U) During his May 2-3 visit to Tehran, Polenz met with
various Iranian officials and parliamentarians, including:
Hassan Rouhani, former Secretary-General of the Iranian
National Security Council (and former Iranian chief nuclear
issues negotiator); Deputy FM Manouchehr Mohammadi; Deputy FM
Sa'id Jalili; Gholamali Haddad Adel, President of the Iranian
Parliament; and Ala'eddin Borujerdi, Chairman of the Iranian
Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee. Polenz was
accompanied by Marieluise Beck, a Green party representative
from the German Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee.

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Iran/nuclear Problem
--------------


3. (U) Polenz reported that the nuclear problem was the key
issue on the agenda of his visit. He said that the subject
had come to dominate the public discourse in Iran to the
point that it now is inhibiting further discussion of social
and political reforms. Polenz reported that the Iranian
press and opposition parties had been given "directives" from
the Iranian regime to support the official Iranian line on
the nuclear dispute, and that censorship was increasing. He
speculated that Iranian President Ahmadinejad might well view
an escalation of the dispute as to his advantage, insofar as
it distracts Iranians from focusing on his failure to keep
his campaign promises to boost employment and fight
corruption.


4. (U) According to Polenz, the Iranians view the nuclear
issue as a dispute between Iran and the United States, and
argue that the USG has pressured the Europeans and others
into supporting the U.S. position. Polenz emphasized that,
in light of this erroneous view, it is essential that Iran
"hear from all sides" that Iran's nuclear program is a
serious concern of the international community, and not just
the United States. Responding to questions regarding media
reports that Iranian parliamentarians had called for Germany
to play a mediator role, Polenz insisted that Germany could
not and would not play such a role, since Germany was aligned
with its European and other partners in its concerns about
Iran's nuclear program. Polenz highlighted the importance of
maintaining unity between Europe, the United States, and the
rest of the international community in dealing with Iran. In
that context, Polenz said he believes that, as a next step, a
"weaker" resolution supported by the entire UNSC would be
more important than having a more strongly-worded resolution

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that lacks the full support of the UNSC members.


5. (U) Polenz said the main sticking point of the nuclear
dispute is getting Iran to agree to suspend its uranium
enrichment program. He readily admitted not having an answer
to the problem, in the face of continued Iranian
recalcitrance. However, he argued that any successful
resolution would require the international community to apply
pressure, "in careful doses" (to avoid counterproductive
escalation),and to offer incentives. Polenz also referred
to various concepts for providing nuclear fuel assurances to
Iran as being worth exploring further, to counter Iranian
arguments that they need to develop nuclear enrichment
capabilities so as not to be vulnerable to
politically-motivated interruptions in fuel supply.


6. (SBU) Polenz repeated his previous calls for the United
States to engage in talks with the Iranians regarding the
nuclear dispute, arguing that a number of factors tied to any
future resolution, including Iranian "security concerns,"
would require direct U.S. involvement. (Comment: Polenz
does not argue that the USG should supplant the EU3 in any
future negotiations, but that the USG should supplement the
EU3 effort more directly in some ill-defined way. End
Comment) He also suggested that the prospect of
normalization of relations with the United States could be an
additional incentive for Tehran, though he remarked that U.S.
officials had rejected the idea during his recent
consultations in Washington. Asked by a reporter how
President Bush's announced July visit to Germany might affect
the Iran-related diplomacy, Polenz said that, following
President Bush's February 2005 visit to Germany/Europe, the
USG had decided to support the EU negotiations by offering to
cease blocking Iran's application for WTO membership and
easing restrictions on the export of civil aircraft parts to
Iran. Polenz speculated that President Bush's upcoming visit
might lead the USG to think of other such incentives it could
offer.


7. (U) Regarding press speculation of potential military
options, Polenz said that his recent discussions in
Washington had reassured him that the USG is committed to
seeking a diplomatic solution. He further commented that he
thought that maintaining some ambiguity with regard to the
question of military action "need not damage the current
diplomatic effort." On the subject of possible sanctions,
Polenz said that Iran needs to understand that no country can
afford to isolate itself in a globalized world. However, he
concluded that, beyond noting that sanctions options were
being considered, he did not wish to comment in detail in
public. Beck commented that economic sanctions can be
problematic, and even backfire, and therefore need to be
approached carefully.

--------------
Iranian Threats Against Israel
--------------


8. (U) Polenz said that he had raised German outrage about
Iranian President Ahmadinejad's threats against Israel.
According to Polenz, his Iranian interlocutors responded by
claiming that former Iranian President Rafsanjani had
rejected Ahmadinejad's statements, and that Ayatollah
Khamenei had stated in the Iranian Parliament that Iran has
no intention of attacking anyone. Polenz conceded that he
was unable to evaluate the substance of such claims, but
noted that he had emphasized the Roadmap and two state
solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in all of his
discussions.

--------------
Regional Security
--------------


9. (U) Polenz said that he also had discussed Iraq and
Afghanistan while in Tehran. He said he emphasized to the
Iranians that they should have a strong self-interest in

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avoiding a civil war in Iraq. Polenz lamented that the U.S.
offer of talks with Iran regarding the security situation in
Iraq had not come to fruition. On Afghanistan, Polenz
assessed Iran as playing a positive role. He added that the
Iranians are concerned about Afghan-based drug trafficking
and would like more European support in addressing the
problem.

--------------
Human Rights Issues
--------------


10. (U) Polenz reported that he raised several human rights
cases with the Iranians. One involves the case of German
citizen Donald Klein who is serving an 18-month sentence in
Iran for allegedly illegally entering Iranian territorial
waters. The others are cases being tracked by Amnesty
International, two of which involve members of Iran's Arab
minority and one of which relates to Iran's subjection of
minors to the death penalty. Regarding the latter point,
Polenz said that the Iranian Parliament is discussing raising
the age at which someone could be sentenced to death in Iran.
Beck said that the delegation's ability to meet with Iranian
civil society representatives, reformers, and human rights
activists was constrained by the fact that such Iranians were
hesitant to meet them. She described this as a notable shift
in the Iranian domestic political atmosphere in comparison
with past experience.

--------------
Comment
--------------


11. (C) Polenz is frequently quoted in the German media on
foreign policy issues. He acknowledged that he initially had
questioned whether it made sense to travel to Iran at this
time, given the hard line taken by the Iranian government and
Ahmadinejad's inflammatory comments. In the wake of his
trip, he said that he had concluded that it indeed was
worthwhile and important to maintain such dialogue with
Iranian contacts. Polenz' comments reflect disagreement
within his committee regarding the advisability of the trip.
It is worth noting that only one other committee member,
Marieluise Beck (Greens),joined Polenz on the trip. In
fact, in a private conversation last week, Deputy Foreign
Affairs Committee Chairman Hans-Ulrich Klose (SPD) told us
that he had declined to join Polenz on the trip, arguing that
the time was inappropriate for such a visit. We have seen a
similar debate within the German Institute for International
and Security Affairs ("Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik"),a
German government-sponsored, independent NGO that plans its
own visit to Tehran May 5-10. While the Director of the
Institute, Volker Perthes (a Middle East expert),supports
the trip, members of his staff working on nonproliferation
affairs are critical of the idea, and at least one prominent
member of the staff has declined to participate.
CLOUD