IRANIAN DELEGATION LEAVES SIERRA LEONE

C O N F I D E N T I A L FREETOWN 000716 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/29/2006 TAGS: PREL SL IR SUBJECT: IRANIAN DELEGATION LEAVES SIERRA LEONE EMPTY-HANDED FOR NOW Classified By: Ambassador Thomas N. Hull, reasons 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (U) On August 22, Sierra Leone's state broadcasting network reported the previous day's visit of an Iranian delegation to Sierra Leone. According to the report, Iranian Minister of Agriculture Mohammed Reza Eskanderi led a 27-man delegation that included the Deputy Ministers of Defense, Energy and Power, Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, and African Affairs. An Iranian member of parliament and a special advisor to the President on Youth Affairs also came. The purpose of the trip to Sierra Leone, Eskanderi said, was to follow up on the decisions made at July's African Union summit in Banjul attended by Iranian President Ahmadinejad. Eskanderi said that the Ministers had been given special assignments to look at possibilities for cooperation between Iran and Sierra Leone, particularly with respect to re-opening the agricultural office in Freetown that had closed during the war. Eskanderi said that Iran is ready to re-open their Freetown agricultural office "as soon as possible" to foster cooperation between the two countries. Eskanderi also extended an invitation to President Kabbah to visit President Ahmadinejad in Iran. ¶2. (C) On August 24, Director General of Foreign Affairs Umaru Wurie proudly told PolOff that he refused to sign an agreement the Iranians had drafted and meant to sign during the visit. Wurie said he walked out of the meeting because the terms of the agreement were contrary to what had been discussed previously and were unacceptable. Wurie said that the Iranian Ambassador (SA Tahawghoghi Mehrizi) has had his nose out of joint ever since and that Sierra Leone-Iran relations had cooled a bit as a result of Wurie's snub. ¶3. (C) Comment: Although Wurie's description of the event was surely accurate, any cooling of relations with Iran is likely to be short-lived. Iran's diplomatic presence in Sierra Leone is active: one of President Kabbah's first trips after his election in 1996 was to Iran. Minister of Foreign Affairs Momodu Koroma (a potential Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) Vice Presidential nominee for the 2007 elections) followed suit in 2002 and Minister of Agriculture Sama Mondeh traveled there in 2003. In 2004, the Government of Iran provided Sierra Leone with 21 tractors (acquired as part of a $1.5 million soft loan). In January 2005, Iranian President Khatami visited Freetown. In June 2006, Mondeh hosted a smaller delegation of 15 Iranian investors, during which the initial discussions on the "unacceptable" agreement likely took place. ¶4. (C) Comment, cont: Wurie knows that we are miffed with the Iranians and was probably just trying to make it clear where his personal sympathies lie. (We recently protested to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when Mehrizi publicly accused the U.S. of "fuelling the ongoing crisis in Lebanon" and "giving the green light to Israeli aggression.") President Kabbah has his own beef with the Iranians, and recently expressed frustration to the Ambassador that the Iranians had not fulfilled an earlier promise to operate a medical facility in Freetown. Since our protest, there have been no more public outbursts, but the Government of Sierra Leone clearly has a soft spot in its heart for Iran and we expect the relationship to grow more serious over time, even though President Kabbah may not be a part of it. Kabbah told the visiting delegation that he has already visited Iran twice since taking office, which makes us think that he will probably not take up Ahmadinejad's invitation to return so close to the end of his term in 2007. End Comment. HULL