S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 DUBAI 001807

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/20/2016
TAGS: IR PREL PGOV PINR PINS
SUBJECT: IRAN'S FOREIGN MINISTRY UNDER AHMADINEJAD (C-NE5-01038)


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CLASSIFIED BY: Jason L. Davis, Consul General, Dubai, UAE.
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d)



1.(C) Summary: Despite a clear shift in Iran's foreign policy
from a relatively more pragmatic approach to a more ideological
approach, ConGen Dubai contacts with links to the Iranian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) claim that Iran's foreign
policy has not fundamentally changed under newly-elected
President Ahmadinejad, who was elected on a platform dominated
by domestic issues. MFA employees reportedly accept the new
foreign minister Mottaki but liked former minister Kharrazi
better. According to one contact, relations between the MFA and
the Majles are currently good, despite the president's
difficulties in getting his cabinet passed. End summary.

2.(S) Conoff recently spoke with two Iranians with connections
to the Iranian MFA. The first was Mohammad Reza Hakami (please
protect), a technocrat and businessman who reportedly worked at
one point for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). He now
lives in Dubai. He has been offered a number of positions in the
new government, including one as an advisor in the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs (MFA) and another as the head of the newly
established economic free trade zone in Iran's Khuzestan
province, but has not committed to any yet. The second
conversation was with Seyed Mohammad Ali Shahidi, a current MFA
employee with 25 years of service. Conoff spoke to Shahidi
during the course of his visa interview.

See No Shift in Foreign Policy
--------------

3.(S) Hakami told Conoff that to date, he has not seen a shift
in Iran's foreign policy under Ahmadinejad from that under
Khatami. Hakami believes that Ahmadinejad will focus on domestic
issues, as that is where his supposed "expertise" lies. Shahidi
likewise stated that there has been no noticeable shift in
Iran's foreign policy under the new administration. (Note:
Shahidi has also worked for Iran's Ministry of Science, Research
and Technology. End Note.) Neither man believed that Iran's
foreign policy would

shift to "the east", as has been suggested,
predicting instead that it will remain relatively constant.
Nonetheless, both Hakami and Shahidi reiterated concerns that
Conoff has heard repeatedly since Ahmadinejad's election in July
2005 about his lack of foreign policy experience and the
possibility that this inexperience could precipitate a crisis.

MFA Employees Liked Kharrazi Better
--------------

5.(C) Shahidi asserted that MFA employees have accepted new
Foreign Minister Mottaki. He volunteered, however, that they
"liked (former Foreign Minister Kamal) Kharrazi better," but
gave no indication as to the reasons behind this preference.

MFA and Majles Getting Along
--------------

6.(C) According to Shahidi, who works in the MFA's Majles
Affairs Office, current relations between the MFA and the Majles
are good. Relations improved following Ahmadinejad's election,
he claimed, because the Majles and the MFA are now both in the
hands of Iran's conservatives and thus no longer have to contend
with factional squabbles when working together. (Note: Shahidi
made no mention of the problems Ahmadinejad had in getting his
cabinet accepted by the Majles.)

Make-Up of Iran's MFA
--------------

7.(S) In contrast to pre-revolutionary Iran, the MFA is no
longer dominated by certain families, according to Hakami. There
were key families with networks in the MFA under the Shah from
among the so-called "1000 families," but this no longer holds
true. Those Iranians who currently serve in the MFA who are not
political appointees must attend the MFA's university, which is
located in north Tehran. They enter this university by scoring
well on the concours (Iranian college entrance exam) in sciences
("ulum" in Persian). Once they graduate from this university,
they are required to take another exam -- apparently comparable
to the Foreign Service Exam -- before they can actually begin
their official training as MFA employees.

8.(C) Nonetheless, it is very difficult to get a posting outside
of Iran in the MFA unless you have close ties to regime
stalwarts according to a Dubai-based Iranian businessman (who
does not have known ties to the MFA) who is a longstanding
Congen Dubai contact. This applies to lower positions, as well
as higher ones. He claims that MFA and other Iranian government
employees posted overseas get special benefits, including the

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equivalent of two salaries. They receive one salary in Iran that
is taxed, and a second un-taxed salary in the location of their
posting, which includes money for rent, furniture, and trips
back to Iran. (Note: This arrangement tracks closely with what
Conoff has heard regarding Iranians who work for Iranian
companies outside Iran. These employees routinely make double
the salary of their counterparts in Iran and are also provided
with additional money for rent and trips back to Iran.)

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

9.(C) Despite these two men's claims to the contrary, there
appears to us to have been a clear change in Iran's foreign
policy since Ahmadinejad took office, with the policy becoming
more ideological and less pragmatic. Soon after taking office,
Ahmadinejad launched a massive purge of more pragmatic Foreign
Ministry employees, including almost half of Iran's ambassadors.
Certainly the Iranian president's statements have become harsher
and the government's positions less conciliatory since
Ahmadinejad took office (though recently the statements seemed
to have been somewhat curbed). The disconnect may be the result
of the Iranian government framing its actions for domestic
audiences as defensive, in response to "attacks" from the
outside, whereas to the rest of the world, they appear
offensive. It is noteworthy that both inside and outside Iran,
people fear that Ahmadinejad will miscalculate the situation.
DAVIS