CROATIAN'S ARE POSITIVE ABOUT U.S. STATEMENT ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L ZAGREB 000676 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/IR E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV HR IR SUBJECT: CROATIAN'S ARE POSITIVE ABOUT U.S. STATEMENT ON IRAN REF: STATE 87682 Classified By: Ambassador Frank for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. 1. (C) Ambassador demarched MFA State Secretary Hidajet Biscevic the evening of May 31 drawing on reftel talking points. Biscevic said that the GOC supported the US move on Iran, a point he reemphasized in a June 1 meeting. He hoped that the Iranians would show maturity and act responsibly to fulfill the conditions laid out in the US offer. He noted that the GOC would issue a public statement of support on June 1, which was currently pending clearance with PM Sanader, who has taken a personal interest in the issue. Biscevic also said that Croatia would explore options to emphasize directly to the Iranian government that they should respond to this initiative positively and quickly. Biscevic noted that, as he was a journalist in Iran in 1979 during the Hostage Crisis, he probably understood better than most Europeans how difficult it was for the U.S. to make this offer to participate directly in discussions with Iran; the U.S. step clearly demonstrated that the U.S. would go to almost any length to resolve the issue diplomatically. ¶2. (SBU) Ambassador will also deliver points to President Mesic's senior foreign policy adviser urging Mesic to make a public statement as well. Post will convey the GOC's official statement via e-mail when available. FRANK