IRAN: AMBASSADOR DEMARCHES INDONESIAN FOREIGN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 005779

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR IO, NEA/IR, AND EAP/MTS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/08/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KUNR KNNP UNHRC IR ID
SUBJECT: IRAN: AMBASSADOR DEMARCHES INDONESIAN FOREIGN
MINISTER WIRAJUDA

REF: A. JAKARTA 5705 (IRANIAN PRESIDENT AHMADI-NEJAD'S

VISIT TO INDONESIA)

B. STATE 72603 (DEMARCHE ON D-8 SUMMIT)

C. STATE 72724 (FINAL FOLLOW-UP ON CANDIDACY OF IRAN)

Classified By: B. Lynn Pascoe, Ambassador. Reason: 1.4 (b, d)


1. (C) Summary: Ambassador urged Indonesian Foreign Minister
Wirajuda to press Iran on its nuclear weapons development
program during President Ahmadi-Nejad's state visit to
Jakarta May 10-11 and during the D-8 Summit in Bali May
12-13, and to use extreme caution in making public statements
on this matter. He also urged that the D-8 address issues
relating Iraq and Palestine (reftel B) in a helpful manner.
We also called on the GOI not to support Iran's bid for
membership on the UN Human Rights Council, but received no
reply (reftel C). Wirajuda confirmed that the GOI has a
strong commitment to uphold the international nuclear
non-proliferation regime and would urge Iran to do so.
Wirajuda expressed concern that international pressure on
Iran's nuclear program could have serious international
repercussions, including economic ones. Ambassador responed
that the international community could not be intimidated by
Iran's bluster. End Summary.


2. (C) Ambassador held a May 8 meeting with Indonesian
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda to express U.S. concerns re
Iran's participation in the D-8 Summit in Bali, a state visit
by Iranian President Ahmadi-Nejad (refs A, B),and Iran's
candidacy for the UN Human Rights Council (ref C). Drawing
on ref B, Ambassador said that President Ahmadi-Nejad would
seek to exploit his state visit and the D-8 summit to deflect
pressure from the international community over Iran's human
rights record, destabilizing activities in Iraq and elsewhere
in the Middle East, and its nuclear weapons program. He
urged Wirajuda to ensure that language seeming to endorse
Iran's position on any of these matters did not find its way
into the D-8's final statement. The Ambassador stressed that
neither Indonesia nor the D-8 as a whole should characterize
Iran's nuclear program as peaceful in nature as that would
contradict IAEA Secretary General El-Baradei's April 28
statement. Recalling President Yudhoyono's previous
description of GOI views on this matter as "ninety percent"
the same as ours, the Ambassador said that Indonesia finds
itself in a strong position to urge Iran to comply with
obligations to the IAEA and UN Security Council. On Iraq,
Ambassador said that Iran's support for extremist Shiite
groups has resulted in the deaths of Americans. Likewise,
Iran has not helped in the fight against al-Qa'ida.


3. (C) Minister Wirajuda labeled the D-8 summit as an
economic development event and that Iran's nuclear program
would not appear on the agenda. He said that the GOI had
made it clear to Iran "as a friend" that while Indonesia
supports the development of nuclear technology for peaceful
purposes it remains strongly committed to nonproliferation
and opposes the diversion of nuclear technology for military
uses. Wirajuda said that the GOI's had a clear position, but
that he would reinforce it during Ahmadi-Nejad's visit. The
GOI wants to see the matter settled peacefully, in a way that
does not weaken provisions of the NPT permitting nuclear
programs for civilian use. In its talks with Ahmadi-Nejad,
the GOI would frame discussion of the nuclear issue in the
larger context of regional stability in the Middle East,
including Iraq and the Israel-Palestine conflict.


4. (C) Wirajuda then said that "as a Muslim country,"
Indonesia worried that "missteps" in handling Iran could have
implications for other countries. He asked Ambassador how
the Security Council would address the issue in the coming
week. The Ambassador replied that we saw the way forward as
clear: Iran must abide by its commitments to the IAEA and
Non-Proliferation Treaty. The U.S., he said, saw no link
between the Indonesian and the Iranian nuclear programs.
Indonesia had adhered to international non-proliferation
regimes, while Iran had an eighteen-year record of deception.


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5. (C) Ambassador drew on Ref C to urge that Indonesia not
support Iran's bid for the UN Human Rights Council. Iran has
a terrible human rights record and has no qualifications to
serve on the new Council. Wirajuda provided no reply on
Indonesian voting intentions.


6. (C) The Ambassador closed by stating that Ahmadi-Nejad's
visit presented an opportunity to clarify the GOI stance to
the Indonesian public, particularly since we anticipated
expressions of solidarity with Iran from members of
Indonesia's Parliament and perhaps others. The GOI should
stress that cooperation with the IAEA provided the only way
forward on the Iranian nuclear issue. Ambassador urged
Wirajuda to press Iran on this during the state visit as well
as during the subsequent D-8 event.
PASCOE