IRAN: PUTIN FRUSTRATED WITH TEHRAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 001634 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/11/2017 TAGS: PREL PARM UNSC IR RS SUBJECT: IRAN: PUTIN FRUSTRATED WITH TEHRAN REF: MOSCOW 1608 Classified By: Ambassador William J. Burns. Reasons: 1.4(B & D). ¶1. (C) During an April 10 conversation with Russian Presidential Foreign Affairs Advisor Sergey Prikhodko, the Ambassador again expressed disappointment with Russia's receiving Iranian Deputy Interior Minister/IRGC General Mohammed Zolqadr, a individual designated on the UNSCR 1747 list of key IRGC officials. Prikhodko took on board the complaint without defending the decision to allow the visit. Turning to the broader issue of Russian-Iranian relations and noting Ahmadinejad's announcement of "industrial-scale" uranium enrichment, Prikhodko said that Putin had become "quite frustrated" with the Iranian government, including its failure to respond to Russian and other overtures on the nuclear issue. According to Prikhodko, he had never seen Putin so exasperated with the Iranian regime. In an April 10 press appearance, Prikhodko said Russia regretted Tehran's lack of a response to the offer of negotiations. ¶2. (SBU) An April 10 article in the leading daily Kommersant about the Iranian general's visit reflected the souring mood towards Tehran. After noting the Russian MFA's defense of the visit as not violating UNSCR 1747, the story characterized Zolqadr as "malicious," said Tehran had burned its bridges by not abandoning its nuclear program, and noted that Russia and China had now been placed in a difficult position by Iran's failure to respond positively. ¶3. (U) On April 10, the MFA reacted skeptically to Ahmadinejad's April 9 announcement, with the spokesman warning against the media's "sensationalistic" treatment of Iranian pronouncements on its nuclear capacities. The MFA went on to note Russia's concern about Iran's latest announcement, criticized Iranian statements that Tehran might withdraw from the NPT, and reiterated the EU3 Plus 3's March 24 negotiation offer. FM Lavrov was also dubious about an Iranian technical "breakthrough" and encouraged verification by the IAEA. BURNS