FRENCH MFA WELCOMES CALL FOR VIGILANCE ON IRANIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 001984 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2016 TAGS: PARM KNNP PREL UNSC RS IR FR SUBJECT: FRENCH MFA WELCOMES CALL FOR VIGILANCE ON IRANIAN TRAVEL REF: STATE 61222 Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Josiah B. Rosenblatt. Reas ons 1.4b,d ¶1. (C) In a May 9 meeting, MFA IO Action Officer for Iran remarked favorably on the reftel demarche points regarding the diplomatic and reputational costs of allowing individuals designated under resolutions 1737 and 1747 to travel to or through UN member-state territory. Moscow had been deeply embarassed, Kassianides claimed, after Iran spotlighted General Mohamed Bager Zolqadr's April trip to Russia. Kassianides said the MFA had had off-line discussions about the Zolqadr incident with Russian counterparts in Moscow and Paris, but had explicitly chosen not to add to Russian chagrin by presenting a formal demarche. ¶2. (C) Kassianides observed with satisfaction that EU rules were more stringent than the requirements of UNSC 1737 and 1747, since the EU goes a step further by formally barring travel to the EU by designees under the relevant UN resolutions. Kassianides noted with particular interest the call in the demarche exhorting host governments to search aircraft originating from Iran if there were grounds for suspicion. Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm STAPLETON