IRAN NIE DEMARCHE DELIVERED TO BRUNEI

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN 000347 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/05/2022 TAGS: PARM PREL KNNP MNUC IR BX SUBJECT: IRAN NIE DEMARCHE DELIVERED TO BRUNEI REF: A. STATE 162558 ¶B. STATE 149648 Classified By: Ambassador Emil Skodon for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) ¶1. (C) On December 5 Ambassador delivered ref A demarche regarding the U.S. National Intelligence Estimate on Iran's nuclear program to Dato Shofry bin Abd Ghafor, who is dual-hatted as Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and as Director of the External Research Bureau, Brunei's external intelligence service. Ambassador stressed the NIE assessments that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program in response to international pressure and that it has continued to acquire the capabilities to restart the program should it choose to do so. Given these circumstances, it was imperative for the international community to continue scrutinizing Iran's nuclear program and put in place measures to persuade Iran to comply with relevant UN Security Council resolutions and suspend enrichment. ¶2. (C) Shofry indicated that the Government of Brunei (GOB) views the dispute over Iran's nuclear program in the context of broader developments in the Middle East. It believed that anything which helped to ease the immediate tension over that issue contributed to the evolution of an atmosphere that favored peaceful resolution of other regional conflicts as well. The GOB had been pleased to see the USG become so actively engaged at Annapolis in reinvigorating Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on a final settlement, and felt that this had sparked a sense that real progress was finally being made on the peace process. Shofry thought the NIE on Iran might indirectly bolster that trend by lowering the regional temperature and reinforcing the belief that results could be achieved through negotiation without recourse to the use of force. ¶3. (C) Ambassador assured Shofry that the President and Secretary were deeply committed to doing what they could to SIPDIS help achieve a successful conclusion to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. He took the occasion to remind Shofry about our previous demarche regarding FATF recommendations on financial institutions doing business with Iran (ref B),and asked if the GOB had taken concrete steps to implement those recommendations. Shofry stated that he was not immediately aware of what had been done in this regard, but asked one of his staff members who accompanied him to the meeting to look into what actions the GOB had taken. SKODON