NORWAY: THE SYRIA/IRAN ARMS EMBARGO, POLITICAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L OSLO 001054 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA, EUR, PM E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/23/2016 TAGS: IS LE MARR MOPS NO PGOV PREL SUBJECT: NORWAY: THE SYRIA/IRAN ARMS EMBARGO, POLITICAL CONTACT AND THE WAY FORWARD ON UNIFIL REF: A. STATE 136196 ¶B. OSLO 1018 Classified By: DCM Kevin Johnson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Post delivered reftel A on August 22 to the head of Norway's Middle East Section, Kaare Eltervaag. Eltervaag assured us that Norway was in full support the embargo and that no new 'political' delegations were scheduled to travel to Damascus or Tehran. Eltervaag also explained the political process that their proposed UNIFIL force package will be subject to before the GON can unequivocally make its contribution. END SUMMARY ¶2. (C) Eltervaag noted that there are still discussions ongoing between A/S David Welch from NEA and State Secretary Raymond Johansen about Johansen's travel to Damascus, but that no other political delegations were scheduled to go to Syria or Iran. Nevertheless, he reiterated that it is Norwegian policy to continue dialogue with the governments in both countries and that business level contact is a daily occurrence in both Damascus and Tehran. On this point, he noted that FM Stoere co-authored an Op-Ed that would be published on August 23 that would underscore his preference for pulling Iran and Syria back into dialogue as opposed to isolating them. Eltervaag said that the arms embargo has full Norwegian support and that they will continue to remind their contacts of the importance of maintaining the embargo at this crucial juncture. (NOTE: Stoere,s aforementioned article was published today, co-written by George Papandreu and Pierro Fassino. The article criticized the attacks on Lebanon and stated that the only way to reach a lasting peace in the Middle East is to involve Iran and Syria in peace negotiations with the US, UN, EU, and Russia as was done in the Oslo or Madrid peace processes.) ¶3. (SBU) Eltervaag said that the political process for getting final government approval of a UNIFIL contribution will likely take part in two separate parliamentary sessions. First, there will be meeting of the smaller Defense Committee to discuss options and go into detailed issues, and only then will there be an open session of the entire parliament. He said that there is one reason for the open session, which is that the military mission to Lebanon is politically complicated: lawmakers opined that a full and open discussion in the parliament would ensure complete "buy-in" as well as offer a forum for explaining the complexities of the mission to the Norwegian public. ¶4. (C) Eltervaag stated that there is no dispute about sending a military contribution, but that there will be an issue about how large the force should be and whether or not to include non-professional soldiers who are serving their mandatory military duty. This is a political hot potato in Eltervaag's opinion, and he says that the discussion on this aspect of the mission could be divisive. Visit Oslo's Classified website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/oslo/index.cf m WHITNEY