REFERRING IRAN TO UNSC: AMBASSADOR DELIVERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 000090 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/18/2016 TAGS: KNNP PREL PARM IR YM DEMARCHE SUBJECT: REFERRING IRAN TO UNSC: AMBASSADOR DELIVERS DEMARCHES REF: A. STATE 5477 ¶B. STATE 6236 Classified By: AMBASSADOR THOMAS C. KRAJESKI, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND ( D). ¶1. (C) Ambassador delivered reftel demarches to FonMin Abubakr al-Qirbi on January 16, noting particularly that Yemen's support in convening an IAEA Board of Governors meeting would be an important demonstration of the U.S.-Yemeni security relationship following President Saleh's November visit to Washington. ¶2. (C) Qirbi assured Ambassador that Yemen had "no problem" with supporting an IAEA Board meeting, but would "wait to see what happens" during that session before deciding on whether to support, abstain or oppose Iran's referral to the UNSC. The Iranians are "masters of brinksmanship," he said, "but they are very important in our region and we must deal with them carefully." ¶3. (C) COMMENT: The FonMin offered no surprises in his response. With probable financial support to the ROYG and a sizeable Shi'a population in Yemen, Iran has considerable carrots and sticks at its disposal in influencing the Yemeni Government. For that reason, we expect the ROYG's position on a UNSC referral to be neutral at best. Krajeski