Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07LONDON2182
2007-06-06 17:08:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy London
Cable title:
UK SHARES CONCERNS ON THE GROWING IRAN-VENEZUELA
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C O N F I D E N T I A L LONDON 002182
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/06/2017
TAGS: PREL ENRG KPRP PGOV PHUM IR UK VE LG
SUBJECT: UK SHARES CONCERNS ON THE GROWING IRAN-VENEZUELA
RELATIONSHIP
REF: STATE 061378
Classified By: Pol MinCouns Maura Connelly for reasons 1.4 b and d
C O N F I D E N T I A L LONDON 002182
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/06/2017
TAGS: PREL ENRG KPRP PGOV PHUM IR UK VE LG
SUBJECT: UK SHARES CONCERNS ON THE GROWING IRAN-VENEZUELA
RELATIONSHIP
REF: STATE 061378
Classified By: Pol MinCouns Maura Connelly for reasons 1.4 b and d
1. (C) HMG is "on the same page" regarding growing
Iran-Venezula ties, FCO Venezuela Desk Officer Peter Kay told
us May 17. Kay, who had visited Caracas the previous week,
had discussed the Iran-Venezuela relationship with numerous
interlocutors; he noted Venezula at that point had just
announced an energy deal with Belarus. Kay said his
Venezuelan counterparts had claimed the outreach was merely
commercial, but, as Kay commented, "You couldn't invent a
better rogues gallery."
2. (C) Kay acknowledged that nuclear cooperation was the
most worrying, and noted the FCO has commissioned an
intelligence study on the Venezuelan-Iran nuclear link. Kay
asked whether the U.S. planned to report Venezuela to the
sanctions committee; we advised the USG would need more than
Chavez' verbal statement of support for Iran's nuclear
program to take such a step. HMG is also concerned that in
the nationalization of the oil fields the national oil
company, PDVSA, will seek to fill its considerable gaps in
expertise with people from Iran rather than BP, Shell or any
more reputable sources, Kay said.
3. (C) FCO Iran Team Leader Mark Peters on June 5 agreed
that Iran's growing Venezuela ties are a long-term concern;
he concurred that an immediate threat might be the
potentially enhanced terrorism capability outlined in reftel,
particularly with respect to Venezuela's weak travel document
regime, new direct Tehran-Caracas air links, and Iran's
notorious track record in the region (i.e., AMIA attack in
Buenos Aires).
4. (C) On oil, Peters differed with Kay in one respect:
given the woeful state of Iran's own oil sector and
capabilities, any Iranian assistance to Venezuela, as
suggested in reftel, would be little more than window
dressing he said. If anything, Peters said, Iran might need
Venezuela's expertise more than Venezuela would need Iran's.
Peters did agree that the arrangement for a Latvian-flagged
gasoline tanker, and for multiple deliveries of gasoline,
addressed one of Iran's key economic vulnerabilities (i.e.,
that Iran depends heavily on imports of refined petroleum
products) and is a possible pressure point for future
international sanctions.
Visit London's Classified Website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/london/index. cfm
TUTTLE
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/06/2017
TAGS: PREL ENRG KPRP PGOV PHUM IR UK VE LG
SUBJECT: UK SHARES CONCERNS ON THE GROWING IRAN-VENEZUELA
RELATIONSHIP
REF: STATE 061378
Classified By: Pol MinCouns Maura Connelly for reasons 1.4 b and d
1. (C) HMG is "on the same page" regarding growing
Iran-Venezula ties, FCO Venezuela Desk Officer Peter Kay told
us May 17. Kay, who had visited Caracas the previous week,
had discussed the Iran-Venezuela relationship with numerous
interlocutors; he noted Venezula at that point had just
announced an energy deal with Belarus. Kay said his
Venezuelan counterparts had claimed the outreach was merely
commercial, but, as Kay commented, "You couldn't invent a
better rogues gallery."
2. (C) Kay acknowledged that nuclear cooperation was the
most worrying, and noted the FCO has commissioned an
intelligence study on the Venezuelan-Iran nuclear link. Kay
asked whether the U.S. planned to report Venezuela to the
sanctions committee; we advised the USG would need more than
Chavez' verbal statement of support for Iran's nuclear
program to take such a step. HMG is also concerned that in
the nationalization of the oil fields the national oil
company, PDVSA, will seek to fill its considerable gaps in
expertise with people from Iran rather than BP, Shell or any
more reputable sources, Kay said.
3. (C) FCO Iran Team Leader Mark Peters on June 5 agreed
that Iran's growing Venezuela ties are a long-term concern;
he concurred that an immediate threat might be the
potentially enhanced terrorism capability outlined in reftel,
particularly with respect to Venezuela's weak travel document
regime, new direct Tehran-Caracas air links, and Iran's
notorious track record in the region (i.e., AMIA attack in
Buenos Aires).
4. (C) On oil, Peters differed with Kay in one respect:
given the woeful state of Iran's own oil sector and
capabilities, any Iranian assistance to Venezuela, as
suggested in reftel, would be little more than window
dressing he said. If anything, Peters said, Iran might need
Venezuela's expertise more than Venezuela would need Iran's.
Peters did agree that the arrangement for a Latvian-flagged
gasoline tanker, and for multiple deliveries of gasoline,
addressed one of Iran's key economic vulnerabilities (i.e.,
that Iran depends heavily on imports of refined petroleum
products) and is a possible pressure point for future
international sanctions.
Visit London's Classified Website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/london/index. cfm
TUTTLE