Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06DAMASCUS775
2006-02-27 14:04:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Damascus
Cable title:
READ OUT FROM IRAN-SYRIA ECONOMIC MEETING
how-toVZCZCXRO0101 OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHMOS DE RUEHDM #0775 0581404 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 271404Z FEB 06 FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7324 INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA IMMEDIATE 0175 RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV IMMEDIATE 0819 RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC IMMEDIATE RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL IMMEDIATE RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 000775
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
NEA/ELA
NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/SINGH
TREASURY FOR GLASER/SZUBIN/LEBENSON
EB/ESC/TFS FOR SALOOM
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2016
TAGS: ECON EINV ETRD SY IR
SUBJECT: READ OUT FROM IRAN-SYRIA ECONOMIC MEETING
REF: A. DMS 00710
B. DMS 06389
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Stephen Seche, reasons 1.4 b/d
C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 000775
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
NEA/ELA
NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/SINGH
TREASURY FOR GLASER/SZUBIN/LEBENSON
EB/ESC/TFS FOR SALOOM
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2016
TAGS: ECON EINV ETRD SY IR
SUBJECT: READ OUT FROM IRAN-SYRIA ECONOMIC MEETING
REF: A. DMS 00710
B. DMS 06389
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Stephen Seche, reasons 1.4 b/d
1. (C) The annual meeting of the Iran-Syria Higher Economic
Commission ended last week, meeting Syrians' already low
expectations that it would lack economic significance (ref
A). Government dailies trumpeted the signing of MOUs on a
range of economic issues, from environmental protection to
investment in petrochemical production. Contacts, however,
dismissed the press coverage as mere propaganda. Shukr Ali,
who works in the Chairman's Office for Business Development
at Nahas Enterprises, a company that has been one of the
primary beneficiaries of Iranian business since the 1980's,
stated that the MOU's contain more rhetoric than substance,
and provide no details or commitments for project
implementation.
2. (C) Contacts contend that the project with the greatest
potential economic benefit, the development of an
Iran-Iraq-Syria oil pipeline, remains a distant dream despite
local reports that Iran intends to invite an Iraqi delegation
to Tehran to discuss it. According to Ali, despite the
project lacking any real form, an unnamed Canadian company
has already expressed interest in developing the Syrian leg
of the pipeline. However, contacts in Syria's oil sector
point to the fact that Iraq cannot even keep its existing
pipelines running and that it has failed to make any progress
on pipeline projects that are much less ambitious and much
more feasible (ref B).
3. (C) Comment: The uneventful meeting of the Higher
Commission allowed both Iran and Syria to claim that they
have options in the face of international pressure without
committing wholesale to a relationship. As one contact
stated, Syria is pursuing its economic relationship with Iran
by "grabbing the stick in the middle"- leaving itself room to
either wield it as a club or hand it back, depending on the
course of events.
SECHE
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
NEA/ELA
NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/SINGH
TREASURY FOR GLASER/SZUBIN/LEBENSON
EB/ESC/TFS FOR SALOOM
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2016
TAGS: ECON EINV ETRD SY IR
SUBJECT: READ OUT FROM IRAN-SYRIA ECONOMIC MEETING
REF: A. DMS 00710
B. DMS 06389
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Stephen Seche, reasons 1.4 b/d
1. (C) The annual meeting of the Iran-Syria Higher Economic
Commission ended last week, meeting Syrians' already low
expectations that it would lack economic significance (ref
A). Government dailies trumpeted the signing of MOUs on a
range of economic issues, from environmental protection to
investment in petrochemical production. Contacts, however,
dismissed the press coverage as mere propaganda. Shukr Ali,
who works in the Chairman's Office for Business Development
at Nahas Enterprises, a company that has been one of the
primary beneficiaries of Iranian business since the 1980's,
stated that the MOU's contain more rhetoric than substance,
and provide no details or commitments for project
implementation.
2. (C) Contacts contend that the project with the greatest
potential economic benefit, the development of an
Iran-Iraq-Syria oil pipeline, remains a distant dream despite
local reports that Iran intends to invite an Iraqi delegation
to Tehran to discuss it. According to Ali, despite the
project lacking any real form, an unnamed Canadian company
has already expressed interest in developing the Syrian leg
of the pipeline. However, contacts in Syria's oil sector
point to the fact that Iraq cannot even keep its existing
pipelines running and that it has failed to make any progress
on pipeline projects that are much less ambitious and much
more feasible (ref B).
3. (C) Comment: The uneventful meeting of the Higher
Commission allowed both Iran and Syria to claim that they
have options in the face of international pressure without
committing wholesale to a relationship. As one contact
stated, Syria is pursuing its economic relationship with Iran
by "grabbing the stick in the middle"- leaving itself room to
either wield it as a club or hand it back, depending on the
course of events.
SECHE