AUSTRALIA SUPPORTS U.S. ANNOUNCEMENT ON IRAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L CANBERRA 000814 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/ANP, NEA/IR, AND NEA/ARP (STEVE WALKER) E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2016 TAGS: PREL PARM AS IR SUBJECT: AUSTRALIA SUPPORTS U.S. ANNOUNCEMENT ON IRAN REF: STATE 87682 Classified By: CDA Bill Stanton for reasons 1.4 (b/d). ¶1. (C/NF) Charge presented reftel U.S. demarche on Iran to Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on the morning of June 1. Responding positively to the U.S. proposal, the FM said he would be happy to support it publicly. He told his staff participating in the meeting to draft a press release in support of the U.S. decision which would also urge Iran to fully and verifiably suspend its enrichment and reprocessing activities. FM Downer said he might also make a supportive statement in Parliament later in the day. Furthermore, the FM agreed with the Charge's suggestion that the Australian Embassy in Tehran follow-up as well in support of the U.S. initiative. ¶2. (C/NF) FM Downer commented that while he thought the U.S. move was excellent, he was privately very skeptical that Iran would give up its enrichment activities. Iran is "absolutely wedded to the strategy of uranium enrichment," he asserted, and nothing "short of stopping them physically" was going to derail it from that goal. Downer believed that, in the end, the U.S. and its allies would either have to accept that Iran would have nuclear weapons or try to destroy Iran's capability to develop them. ¶3. (C/NF) Asked by the FM how the U.S. proposal would play out domestically in Iran, his Iran adviser David Windsor commented that it could play into the hands of conservatives in Tehran who would say they were happy to talk to the U.S. but would meanwhile continue enrichment activities. The Charge noted that the U.S. proposal in any case negated criticism that we were not willing to engage Iran to find a diplomatic solution to its nuclear program. This put the focus back on the real issue of Iran's nuclear activities. FM Downer agreed. ¶4. (U) We will transmit to the Department any GOA statements on the U.S. initiative as soon as they become available. STANTON