MFA OFFERS ADDITIONAL DETAILS ON IRANIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 001010 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 1/20/2016 TAGS: PREL IR KISL FR SUBJECT: MFA OFFERS ADDITIONAL DETAILS ON IRANIAN MANIPULATION OF CARTOON ISSUE, GOF RESPONSE REF: A. PARIS 915 ¶B. PARIS 754 Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) During a February 15 discussion with poloff, MFA DAS-equivalent for Iran/Iraq/Arabian Gulf Affairs Antoine Sivan offered additional details on Iranian government manipulation of the Mohammed cartoon controversy, which he said led to a violent protest last week which targeted the French embassy in Tehran (ref A). Sivan concluded that the 60 or so protesters in Tehran who threw rocks and molotov cocktails at the French embassy February 10 were clearly regime elements. Up to that date, he said, the French embassy in Tehran had found, from "man-on-the-street" discussions and observations of the earlier "Ashoura" processions, that the Iranian public remained calm in the wake of the cartoon controversy. ¶2. (C) Sivan added that the security protection provided by the Iranian government to the French embassy was woefully inadequate, in violation of Iran's Vienna Convention obligations to protect diplomatic missions. As a result, the GoF wanted to send a forceful message to the GoI. Director of FM Douste Blazy's Cabinet, Pierre Vimont, convoked the Iranian charge d'affaires in Paris to the MFA and reminded Iran of its Vienna Convention obligations, warned that such an episode could not be repeated, called on Iran to pay for the damages to the French embassy, and concluded that the caricature issue was a false pretext for the violent attack on the French embassy. Vimont also warned the charge over Iranian media manipulation of the issue, noting that Iranian TV footage of the crowd attacking the French mission had been rebroadcast in France, causing widespread public indignation. ¶3. (C) Sivan reported that the Iranian charge took the message on board and appeared to grasp the seriousness of the issue, though the GoI has yet to take financial responsibility for the damages. He added that, despite the strong message delivered to the Iranian charge, the GoF could not rule out further incidents targeting its mission in Tehran, given Iranian government interest in manipulating the issue. Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm Stapleton