GCC FEARS BEING LABELED PRO-ISRAELI FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 000578 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, NSC FOR RAMCHAND, LONDON FOR TSOU, PARIS FOR ZEYA E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/18/2016 TAGS: PGOV PREL IR KU KUWAIT IRAN RELATIONS SUBJECT: GCC FEARS BEING LABELED PRO-ISRAELI FOR CONFRONTING IRAN OVER NUCLEAR PROGRAM REF: KUWAIT 397 Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (d) ¶1. (C) Dr. Yacoub Al-Hayati, one of Kuwait's five members on the Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) Advisory Committee, told Poloff in a February 19 meeting the GCC was hesitant to directly confront Iran over its nuclear program for fear of being labeled by Iran as pro-Israeli, a view he repeated throughout the meeting. He also explained that the association between Israel's nuclear program and Iran's was "logical" to Arab publics and made it particularly difficult to publicly criticize Iran's nuclear program without criticizing Israel's at the same time. According to Al-Hayati, however, if "directed" by the international community, the GCC would be more "unveiled" with the Iranian government (GOI) in its opposition to Iran's nuclear program. He welcomed Secretary Rice's upcoming trip to Abu Dhabi, reported February 17 in local press, as a "very good step," and predicted it would give the GCC the impetus it needed to more directly confront Iran. Al-Hayati suggested the Secretary's visit be followed by a visit from UN Secretary SIPDIS General "Kofi Annan or another international leader" to highlight international, as opposed to uniquely U.S., support for greater GCC action on Iran. ¶2. (C) Although dismissing the Qataris as "politically inexperienced and contradictory," Al-Hayati predicted Qatar would vote "with the U.S." on any UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution against Iran, with or without broader GCC support. Al-Hayati explained that although its voting was not directly dictated by the GCC, Qatar was expected to represent GCC views while on the UNSC. Al-Hayati also confirmed Ambassador Abdullah Bishara's assertion (reftel) that, while generally concerned, the GCC had not yet considered how to deal with the consequences of any potential international military action against Iran, or with a nuclear-armed Iran. ¶3. (C) Al-Hayati, a former Shi'a MP and a self-described "moderate," suggested Iran's confrontational policies might be directed by "a Mossad agent" in the GOI's inner circles of power. He cited the example of Eli Cohen (an Israeli spy in Syria) as evidence of Israel's intention and ability to infiltrate foreign governments. ********************************************* * For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ ********************************************* * LEBARON