MOROCCAN CONCERNS ABOUT IRANIAN AND ALGERIAN

					  C O N F I D E N T I A L RABAT 002103 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/14/2016 
TAGS: AORC IAEA KNNP PREL MO IR
SUBJECT: MOROCCAN CONCERNS ABOUT IRANIAN AND ALGERIAN 
NUCLEAR PROGRAMS 
 
 
Classified by Political Counselor Craig Karp for reasons 1.4 
(b) and (d). 
 
					

1. (C) Summary: T Senior Advisor Jim Timbie met with Nasser
Bourita, Morocco's top International Organizations official,
on October 31, to convey USG concerns about Iran and other
items on the international non proliferation agenda. Bourita
advised that the GOM shares the USG's concerns and said that
Morocco would be an ally as it takes up its seat on the IAEA
Board of Governors. Bourita perceived that Iran was
currently outmaneuvering the USG in international fora.
Bourita expressed Moroccan concerns about Algeria's nuclear
development program, which he alleged had some parallels with
Iran's. End summary.



2. (C) On the margins of the Global Initiative Against
Nuclear Terrorism meeting in Rabat, Bureau of Non
Proliferation and Disarmament Affairs Senior Advisor Jim
Timbie met on October 31 with Nasser Bourita, (A/S
equivalent) Director of Multilateral Affairs at the Moroccan
Foreign Ministry. The meeting was part of our broader arms
control and disarmament engagement with Morocco, following
its accession to the IAEA Board of Governors. Polcouns,
poloff, and a Moroccan MFA notetaker also attended.



3. (C) Timbie briefed Bourita on the USG's assessment of
Iran, noting that there is considerable evidence that Iran's
nuclear ambitions are not peaceful. Tehran has defied the
IAEA and is now defying the UNSC. The international
community must now establish the consequences of this
defiance, Timbie asserted. The possible suspension of all
technical cooperation, with humanitarian exceptions, may be a
logical step to consider.



4. (C) Bourita responded that the GOM has taken a
consistently strong position on Iran. King Mohammed VI wrote
to President Ahmedinejad in June, urging that Iran consider
the "3 plus 3 solution" as an honorable way out of the
current impasse. Morocco has told Tehran that "the world
needs Iran integrated into international political and
commercial framework," not as an isolated pariah state.
Morocco will chair the African Group at the IAEA in Vienna,
and will study carefully the potential application of
sanctions against Iran, should they become necessary, he
added.



5. (C) Bourita underlined Morocco's position that the Iranian
case should not become a pretext for blocking other states
(Note: e.g. Morocco. End note.) from pursuing peaceful
nuclear energy programs. Timbie responded that, on the
contrary, the USG was pursuing the tandem goals of expanding
the peaceful use of nuclear energy while preventing more
states from developing a nuclear weapons capability.



6. (C) Bourita said Morocco welcomed this approach but
regretted that "your positive policy is not being
well-communicated" in international fora. He added his view
that Iran was currently outmaneuvering the U.S. by stirring
up resentments among the G-77 and NAM states and "pitting the
developing nations against the developed." In these fora,
Morocco tried to inject reason into the debate but
"unfortunately we are in the minority," he stated.



7. (C) Bourita expressed GOM concerns about Algeria's nuclear
development program. Algeria only joined the NPT ten years
ago, he observed, adding that the GOA had yet to sign on to
the additional protocols. There were some parallels with
Iran, he asserted, noting that the Algerian MOD secretively
controls their nuclear program while Morocco, by contrast,
administers its nuclear energy program through its Ministry
of Science "in a fully transparent manner."



8. (C) Timbie responded that the USG also has some concerns
about Algeria's nuclear program and expected that there will
be more activity in this account in the coming months. He
flagged for Bourita nascent thinking in Washington about a
possible unified North African electrical grid that could be
used to distribute nuclear-generated energy across the
region, centralizing the generation of this electricity in a
few places. Bourita said Morocco could be interested in this
proposal, but would have to study a more detailed concept
paper before offering a substantive reaction.

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Riley