TUNISIAN VIEWS ON U.S. STATEMENT ON IRAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 001341 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/MAG AND NEA/ARP E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV TS SUBJECT: TUNISIAN VIEWS ON U.S. STATEMENT ON IRAN REF: STATE 87682 Classified By: AMBASSADOR WILLIAM HUDSON FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) AND (d) ¶1. (C/NF) On June 1, Ambassador delivered Ref A demarche on the U.S. statement on Iran as well as the English and Arabic texts of the Secretary's statement to Foreign Minister Abdelwaheb Abdallah. Ambassador stressed our desire for Tunisia to issue a public statement supporting our move, GOT encouragement of Iran to suspend its enrichment activities and that the international community is united on this issue. ¶2. (C/NF) Abdallah said that he had received a report from the Tunisian Ambassador in Washington who had been briefed by Assistant Secretary Welch and that he had also read our statement. He reiterated that he - and the GOT - regularly engages Iranian officials to stress that, while Tunisia supports the peaceful development of nuclear power, recent Iranian statements are not helpful. Abdallah did not commit to issuing a public statement of support, but said that clearly this is an opportunity for Iran to renew its dialogue with the world's great power. He added that "You have already won" and that the U.S. statement is a good step for Tunisia, the region and the world. "Not even one country," said Abdallah, supports Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions. ¶3. (C/NF) Abdallah commented that he did not understand the current Iranian perspective and noted that the Tunisian ambassador in Iran feels there is no united view among Iranian citizens. He added that he found it unusual during his February visit to Tehran (Ref B) that President Ahmadinejad did not raise the nuclear issue, instead focusing on bilateral relations. HUDSON