BRUNEIAN AMBASSADOR ATTENDED NATANZ OPENING

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN 000124

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR ISN, NEA, IO, AND EAP/MTS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/12/2017
TAGS: AORC BX IAEA KNNP MNUC PARM TRGY UNSC
SUBJECT: BRUNEIAN AMBASSADOR ATTENDED NATANZ OPENING
BECAUSE CONTRARY INSTRUCTIONS DID NOT ARRIVE IN TIME

REF: A. (A) BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN 121


B. (B) SECSTATE 45880

C. (C) 06 BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN 167

Classified By: AMBASSADOR EMIL SKODON FOR REASONS 1.4 (B,D)


1. (C) Ambassador encountered Pengiran Ali Hashim, Director
for Bilateral Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Trade, at a social event the evening of April 10 and asked if
Brunei's Ambassador in Teheran had attended the previous
day's ribbon-cutting at the Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant
(FEP) following Embassy demarche on this subject (ref A). An
embarrassed Ali Hashim responded that the Bruneian Ambassador
had in fact gone to Natanz even though MFAT leadership had
decided that he should not, because instructions to that
effect did not reach him in time.


2. (C) Ali Hashim explained that following his receipt of
our demarche at OOB on April 9 he raised our approach with
Foreign Minister II Pehin Lim. Lim agreed that the Bruneian
Ambassador should not attend the ribbon-cutting and directed
Ali Hashim to cable instructions to that effect. Ali Hashim
did so, but given that the ceremony was scheduled for later
that day decided to phone the Bruneian Ambassador and warn
him that instructions were coming (Teheran is five hours
behind Bandar Seri Begawan). He finally reached the
Ambassador on his cell phone, only to learn that he was
already at the Iranian Foreign Ministry waiting to board a
bus that the ministry had arranged to take members of the
diplomatic corps on the four-hour drive to Natanz. The
Bruneian Ambassador felt it was too late for him to back out
and so, with Ali Hashim's reluctant acquiescence, boarded the
bus, rode to Natanz, and attended the FEP ribbon-cutting.


3. (C) Ali Hashim told Ambassador Skodon that he had told
Brunei's Ambassador in Teheran to make clear to all and
sundry that he was in Natanz only as an observer of Iranian
developments and his presence did not signal any support for
Teheran's work on nuclear enrichment. Ambassador expressed
disappointment that Brunei was represented at Natanz,
especially since it had made clear its commitment to support
UNSC resolutions regarding Teheran's nuclear program, and
stressed the need to avoid any steps that the Iranians might
mistakenly interpret as support for their defiance of the
UNSC.


4. (C) Comment: The silver lining in this unfortunate
episode is that MFAT leadership apparently remains willing to
respond to our cautions about inadvertently displaying
support for Teheran's covert nuclear weapons program, as it
did last year when the Sultan sidestepped an invitation to
visit Iran following our intervention (ref C).
SKODON