IRAN'S CANDIDACY FOR THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANTIAGO 000917 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR IO, NEA, WHA/BSC E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/03/2016 TAGS: KUNR PHUM UNHRC PREL CI IZ SUBJECT: IRAN'S CANDIDACY FOR THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL REF: STATE 66050 Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Emi L. Yamauchi. Reasons: 1.4 ( b and d). ¶1. (C) The Ambassador delivered reftel points urging Chile to oppose Iran's candidacy for the Human Rights Council to Foreign Ministry Director General for External Relations Carlos Portales on May 3. Portales (the MFA's number 3 official) did not address Iran's candidacy specifically, but said that in its discussions with other Latin American countries, Chile had sought to maintain its position of supporting only those countries committed to promoting human rights. He added, however, that there were two regional groupings where there did not appear to be sufficient numbers of qualified candidates. Portales reiterated Chile's intention to support only qualified candidacies, and assured the Ambassador that Chile would vote for the "least possible number of countries" that fall short of this criteria. KELLY