SLOVENIA'S RELATIONSHIP WITH IRAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L LJUBLJANA 000022 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/17/2017 TAGS: PREL KDEM KPAO SI IR SUBJECT: SLOVENIA'S RELATIONSHIP WITH IRAN REF: SECSTATE 2659 Classified By: COM Thomas B. Robertson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. Slovenia has a small mission in Tehran headed by a charge and staffed with one additional officer. The second officer speaks Farsi and both will be in Tehran through Slovenia's EU presidency which will conclude in July ¶2008. According to MFA Iran desk officer Maja Novak, the primary focus of the mission is commercial and Slovene diplomats engage primarily with other western diplomats and in multilateral fora. Slovenia follows the EU lead in its engagement with Tehran and has not held high level talks or supported high level visits since its accession to the EU in ¶2004. Nina Purkart from the MFA's Office of Human Rights within the Division of International Organizations said Slovenia has not engaged Iranian civil society directly and works primarily through EU programs. While underscoring Slovenia's small stature in Iran, Purkart did acknowledge that if there were political will, the GOS might be able to find a way to engage more directly along the lines of its successful project in Iraq or through the "intercultural dialogue" which will be a cornerstone of its EU Presidency. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) Polecon Chief met with MFA Iran Desk officer Maja Novak and MFA Human Rights officer Nina Purkart January 16 to discuss Slovenia's engagement in Iran and potential for US-Slovenian collaboration. Slovenia keeps a low profile in Tehran focusing primarily on its small trade relationship ($40 million in exports and $1 million in imports) and a sizable debt owed by Iran. As in past discussions on Iran, the MFA claimed to have very narrow interests and minimal contact with the Government of Iran or Iranian civil society. Poloff reminded Novak and Purkart that Slovenia had no representation in Iraq and yet had developed a very successful program there in collaboration with the Government of Austria and the Slovenian NGO Together which continues today. In fact, Together has a National Endowment for Democracy funded program in Chechnya, an exceedingly difficult and dangerous place to work, where it works with a local NGO on building volunteerism. ¶3. (C) Purkart acknowledged the success of the Iraq program saying that it was possible only because there had been strong political support behind it initially. For Slovenia to engage seriously in Iran, the personal support of the Foreign Minister, at a minimum, would be required. She did not discount this possibility especially in light of Slovenia's upcoming EU Presidency and its interest in promoting "intercultural dialogue," a concept which has not yet been fully fleshed out. Novak and Purkart were both curious about how the USG engaged in Iran and how it identified its civil society partners. ¶4. (C) Comment: Though we hear this excuse less and less, the "we are small" defense in response to pressure to engage on global issues was not unexpected. However, given Slovenia's growing exposure to problems far from its own borders through its leadership of various international organizations (OSCE in 2005, Human Security Network 2006/7, IAEA 2007) this concern is now often followed by a willingness to explore the possibilities. Slovenia also has a keen interest in membership on the UN Human Rights Council where, Poloff reminded Novak, Iran would surely be a topic of discussion. Post believes Slovenia would be capable of spearheading a modest yet effective program in the area of human rights, volunteerism, women's issues or any number of less controversial topics, but it would need some assistance, both financial and conceptual, to get something off the ground. End Comment. ROBERTSON