HUNGARIANS BRIEFED ON IRAN NIE

S E C R E T BUDAPEST 001910 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/NCE MARC NORDBERG E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/04/2022 TAGS: KNNP MNUC PARM HU SUBJECT: HUNGARIANS BRIEFED ON IRAN NIE REF: A. SECSTATE 162558 ¶B. BUDAPEST 1766 Classified By: Charge d'Affairs Jeffrey Levine; reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) PolOff briefed and provided ref A non-paper and talking points to MFA Security and Non-Proliferation Department Head, Vilmos Hamikus, on 4 December. Responding to the request for a GoH public statement calling on Iran to suspend enrichment, reprocessing and heavy water activities, Hamikus stated that Hungary considers the issue of Iranian nuclear program a very serious matter. He noted the issue of further sanctions is a key EU GAERC agenda item and anticipates Hungary would be more inclined to address support for the U.S. position through an EU public statement. However, Hamikus considers a Hungarian public statement possible if "the right venue can be found" to ensure the Prime Minister isn't making a statement "out of the blue." Continuing, Hamikus commented that MFA is currently working with the Finance and Economy Ministries to determine if any Iranian companies, banks or individuals identified in ref B have financial activity in Hungary. LEVINE