Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06DAMASCUS208
2006-01-19 15:31:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Damascus
Cable title:  

IRANIAN PRESIDENT VISITS DAMASCUS

Tags:  PREL PGOV SY IR 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #0208 0191531
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 191531Z JAN 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6624
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0583
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 000208 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR ZEYA, LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/19/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV SY IR
SUBJECT: IRANIAN PRESIDENT VISITS DAMASCUS

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Stephen A. Seche for reasons
1.4 b/d

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 000208

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR ZEYA, LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/19/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV SY IR
SUBJECT: IRANIAN PRESIDENT VISITS DAMASCUS

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Stephen A. Seche for reasons
1.4 b/d


1. (C) Summary: Shortly after his noon arrival in Damascus,
visiting Iranian President Ahmadinejad met January 19 with
Syria's President Asad and later in an expanded session with
Asad and Syrian and Iranian officials. Regional media
reports previewing the two-day visit suggested that bilateral
and regional political issues would be discussed and economic
agreements signed, but no specific information was available
as of late afternoon local time. A Syrian political analyst
said that while Syria and Iran were using the visit to
demonstrate solidarity in the face of Western pressures, the
two countries differed in their long-term goals. Ahmadinejad
wanted to conceal his inability to solve domestic Iranian
issues, while Asad was using the specter of growing regional
Shiite influence to pressure the Saudis not to meddle in
Syrian and Lebanese affairs. End Summary.


2. (U) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived January
19 in Damascus for a two-day visit. He traveled to the
Presidential Palace where he met in a short session with
Syrian President Bashar al-Asad and then in an expanded
session with Asad and Syrian and Iranian officials, according
to our contacts.


3. (SBU) Regional media reports previewing the visit
suggested that bilateral and regional political issues would
be discussed and economic agreements signed. Journalists
were invited to the Ministry of Information at 0800 to board
a bus to the Palace for an afternoon press conference, but at
the end of the day it seemed increasingly likely that public
remarks or a communiqu would be delayed until January 20.
No schedule for the visit has been released, and an AP
staffer repeated an Iranian Embassy official's remark that
the schedule would be developed during the course of
Ahmadinejad's stay. The AP staffer also repeated reports
Ahmadinejad might visit the Omayyad Mosque in central
Damascus and the Sayda Zeinab Mosque, which is a Shi'a
pilgrimage site, on the outskirts of Damascus. Ahmadinejad
is also expected to meet prominent Syrian businessman Sa'eb
Nahas, a Shiite with numerous ties to Iran, according to one
of Nahas' associates.


4. (C) Syrian political analyst Sami Moubayed told Polchief
that while Syria and Iran are both using the visit to
demonstrate their solidarity against Western pressures, the
two countries differ somewhat in their long-term goals.
Ahmadinejad is using the visit as a public relations stunt to
conceal his inability to deliver domestically, Moubayed said.
The Iranian President is betting that the US is too
preoccupied with Iraq and fearful of Iranian influence there
to press the Iranians too hard, Moubayed said. Meanwhile,
Syria is using the visit and the optic of a burgeoning
alliance with the "Shiites" to serve notice on the Saudis,
who are afraid of rising Shiite power in the region, not to
pressure Syria too hard on Syrian-Lebanese relations and on
Syria's participation in the UNIIIC investigation. In
Moubayed's view, however, the alliance between the two
countries is short-term and tactical.


5. (C) Other analysts say that Syria also wants to remind
the U.S. that it has dangerous friends and that it still has
cards to play to regain the Golan Heights and retain its
interests in Lebanon. These analysts express concern,
however, that Iran is the more powerful partner in this
alliance and that Syria may get dragged into Iran's fights
with the West and damage its future prospects for better
relations with the U.S.


6. (U) Ahmadinejad was accompanied by Iranian FM Manouchehr
Mottaki; the Minister of Housing and Urban Development and
the head of the Iran-Syria Joint Economic Commission Mohammad
Saeedi-Kia; Iranian government spokesman Gholam-Hossein
Elham; and Presidential Advisor Mehdi Chamran, according to
Iranian media. The Iranian President was met at the airport
by Syrian FM Farouk Al-Shara'a; Minister of Higher Education
Hani Murtada; Minister of Economy and Trade Amer Husni Lutfi;
Syria's Ambassador to Iran Hamid Hassan; and the Iranian
Ambassador in Damascus Mohammed Hassan Akhtari.
SECHE