IRANIAN AMBASSADOR SEES DOWNTURN IN

S E C R E T MANAMA 000130 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/11/2017 TAGS: PREL PINR IR BA REGION SUBJECT: IRANIAN AMBASSADOR SEES DOWNTURN IN IRANIAN-BAHRAINI RELATIONS Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe. Reason: 1.4 (B)(D) ¶1. (S) An Arab Ambassador in Bahrain provided the Ambassador with a readout of departing Iranian Ambassador Mohammed Farazmand's farewell call during which Farazmand frankly acknowledged that he was happy to leave Bahrain at this time because of the difficulty of representing the current Iranian regime and because Iranian-Bahraini relations had reached a "point of crisis." ¶2. (S) Farazmand, who indicated that he was in the Khatami/Rafsanjani camp, was critical of President Ahmadinejad, and wanted nothing to do with him. As an example of what Ahmadinejad was doing to the country, he cited a USD 20 billion fund for future generations which the president had squandered and depleted through distributions to pet projects in Iranian cities. Farazmand likewise did not give high marks to Foreign Minister Mottaki. He said that he would go back to Tehran and lie low until things change. ¶3. (S) Farazmand was particularly disappointed about the downturn in Iran's relations with Bahrain. When he came to Bahrain more than three years ago, he stated, things were looking up. Bahrain had just given a license to open up an Iranian hospital, allowed the establishment up of a joint venture with two Iranian banks (now called Future bank),and welcomed official and business visitors. Now, the license for the hospital has been canceled, transit visas have been blocked, and business visas are harder to come by. He cited the example of a recent conference for which an Iranian company was a major sponsor. At the last minute, a visa for the president of the Iranian company was denied, derailing the company's participation. Farazmand told the Arab Ambassador that "we are in a very bad point in the relationship between our two countries," and that he was leaving Bahrain "very disappointed." ¶4. (S) Farazmand said he was not impressed with the slate of candidates put forward by major Shia party Al-Wifaq in the recent parliamentary elections. In many cases, they ran weak candidates who defeated much more capable Shia who had served in the parliament the previous four years. He was also critical of Al-Wifaq's decision to boycott the opening session of parliament, saying it was pointless. Asked if, as alleged by some, Iran had funneled any money to Shia candidates, Farazmand flatly denied it. If Iran had done so, he stated, it would have supported more capable candidates. Asked from where Al-Wifaq got its funding, Farazmand maintained that leading Shia cleric Shaikh Isa Qassim had attained such a level in the religious heirarchy that he was free to expend the "khums" (obligatory Shia tithe) he collected as he wished, which included spending for Al-Wifaq. (Comment: it was unclear whether he was indicating that these were funds solely collected domestically, or also included funds from abroad, specifically Iran. End comment.) ¶5. (C) On regional issues, Farazmand said that Iran's recent engagement with Saudi Arabia on Lebanon was driven out of the office of Khamenei, not Ahmadinejad. He said that Qatar welcomed a downturn in Iran's relations with the GCC countries because it felt this gave Qatar an opportunity to play an enhanced role. ¶6. (S) Comment: Previous Iranian Ambassadors have been accused of meddling in Bahrain's internal affairs, but Farazmand had a reputation of behaving cleanly and according to diplomatic norms. He was active, quite social, well-liked and reasonably effective. He previously served seven years in Saudi Arabia. He was considered a "moderate," and, given his ties to Khatami, had reportedly expected to be called back to Tehran rather quickly when Ahmadinejad began recalling Khatami ambassdorial allies last year. For some reason, he is only now leaving. ********************************************* ******** Visit Embassy Manama's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/manama/ ********************************************* ******** MONROE