SLOVAKIA UNHAPPY WITH IRAN, SUPPORTS UNSC

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRATISLAVA 000031 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/NCE AND NEA/ARPI NSC FOR DAMON WILSON E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/13/2021 TAGS: KNNP PARM PREL IR EU AORC LO SUBJECT: SLOVAKIA UNHAPPY WITH IRAN, SUPPORTS UNSC REFERRAL; CONSIDERING A BILATERAL MESSAGE REF: A. STATE 6236 ¶B. BRATISLAVA 28 (NOTAL) Classified By: DCM Lawrence R. Silverman for Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). ¶1. (C) DCM and Poloff delivered ref A points to State Secretary (Deputy Foreign Minister) Magda Vasaryova on SIPDIS January 13. Vasaryova, whose portfolio includes the United Nations, told us that Slovakia, as a member of the Security Council, a country with a bilateral relationship with Iran, and Vice Governor of the IAEA, is "very unhappy" with the situation. Vasaryova said that, following the January 12 EU-3 meeting in Berlin, the position of the United States and the EU Members of the Security Council is clear and complementary; however, Vasaryova noted that the positions of Russia and China were as yet unknown. Vasaryova, who was joined in the meeting by UNSC Coordinator Marcel Pesko, asked that we pass along to the MFA any read-out from next week's meeting in Moscow on the subject. ¶2. (C) Vasaryova told us that during her recent travel to Moscow, the State Secretaries there openly raised the issue of Iran's nuclear ambitions with her and told her that the Russians, too, were very unhappy. She noted the importance of educating the public and the media on the issue, saying that Slovakia has laid out its position clearly in a public statement that stressed support for an IAEA report to the UNSC and the need for full Iranian compliance (ref B). When the issue comes to the UNSC, she said, Slovakia will support a rational solution; Pesko said that a common P-5 approach would receive Slovakia's full support, though he raised questions about the effectiveness of targeted sanctions. SHOULD SLOVAKIA INVITE THE IRANIANS FOR A CHAT? -------------- -- ¶3. (C) On the margins of the meeting, Pesko quietly noted that the Danes had recently called in the Iranian Ambassador for a discussion of this issue. He asked if it would be helpful for Slovakia to do the same. We advised Pesko that it would be best to await IAEA action in the UNSC, and then the international community could coordinate its approach. VALLEE NNNN