U.S. STATEMENT ON IRAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINGSTON 001064 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/IR, NEA/ARP (WALKER),WHA/CAR (BENT) SOUTHCOM PLS PASS POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/31/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV IR JM SUBJECT: U.S. STATEMENT ON IRAN REF: STATE 87682 Classified By: Ambassador Brenda LaGrange Johnson. Reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Upon receipt of Reftel on May 31, the Ambassador attempted to contact Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, who was campaigning outside of Kingston and unavailable by phone. With Foreign Minister Anthony Hylton abroad on official travel, the Ambassador telephoned Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade (and currently the acting FM) Delano Franklyn and reviewed reftel points with him. Emphasizing that the USG will now participate in its first direct talks with the Iranian government in 25 years, she urged the GOJ to come out publicly in support of the U.S. position, and to encourage Iran fully and verifiably to suspend its enrichment and reprocessing activities. ¶2. (C) Franklyn said that he, too, was headed out of the capital on campaign business and could not guarantee a GOJ statement on May 31. He assured the Ambassador that the GOJ is following developments in the Iran/EU-3/USG negotiations closely and would make a public statement "at the appropriate time." ¶3. (C) Comment: Simpson Miller and the governing Peoples National Party (PNP) are currently preoccupied with winning the June 7 election for the parliamentary seat recently vacated by former PM P.J. Patterson. They view that contest as a key barometer of the PM's (and the PNP's) popularity in advance of the upcoming general elections (due anytime before the end of October 2007) which Simpson Miller must win to secure her own mandate to govern. The Ambassador, who is already scheduled to meet with the PM and the FM on another matter on June 5, will use the occasion to convey the Iran message directly to them. JOHNSON