DEMARCHE DELIVERED: REAFFIRMING U.S. ENERGY

S E C R E T BAKU 001236 SIPDIS SIPDIS NOFORN DEPT FOR EUR/CARC, NEA/IR AND SCA/CEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/11/2017 TAGS: ENRG ETTC PREL IR AJ SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED: REAFFIRMING U.S. ENERGY POLICY IN ADVANCE OF THE TEHRAN CASPIAN SEA SUMMIT REF: A. STATE 141286 ¶B. BAKU 1217 Classified By: Ambassador Anne E. Derse per 1.4 (b,d). ¶1. (C) The Ambassador delivered ref a points on the upcoming Tehran Caspian Sea Summit in an October 9 telephone conversation with Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov. (Mammadyarov had just returned to Baku and was about to depart for the Vilnius Energy summit.) Speaking guardedly, Mammadyarov relayed that Under Secretary Burns had made these points to him during their bilateral meeting in New York. Mammadyarov said he understands them, and that Under Secretary Burns understands Azerbaijan's position. SIPDIS Mammadyarov confirmed that President Aliyev will attend the October 16 summit in Tehran but said that Azerbaijan will not send signals of international support for Tehran at the Summit. Mammadyarov added that he is not at all sure, however, about the Russian and Kazakh plans for the summit, particularly the "signals" they will send vis a vis Tehran. He commented that Azerbaijan did not agree to the Tehran summit "for nothing," stating that the GOAJ thinks it has extracted "some softening of Tehran's position on Caspian delimitation" as the price of its attendance. ¶2. (C) As requested by Foreign Minister Mammadyarov, DCM delivered detailed points (ref a) on the Tehran Summit during an October 11 meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov. Khalafov responded to the demarche by assuring the U.S. that no negative steps will be taken during the Tehran Summit with respect to Caspian energy or the cooperation with the United States on energy transport. He emphasized that this upcoming conference is the follow-on to the Ashgabat Summit and is aimed at moving forward the demarcation issue and not serving Iran's narrow national interests. He noted that Azerbaijan is aware of its international obligations with respect to Iran and will continue to uphold them. ¶3. (S/NF) Comment: In his September 28 meeting with visiting CIA Director Hayden, President Aliyev also said that he was perplexed by Russia and Kazahkstan's reversal of position on this Summit in recent weeks. Aliyev said that both Putin and Nazarbayev had told him they did not support the Summit, but when Ahmadinejad came to Baku in August, he made it clear that he had secured the approval of both Putin and Nazarbayev, and Aliyev was forced to acquiesce. Aliyev added that he did not understand what had happened with Putin and Nazarbayev (ref b). End comment. DERSE