MISSILE DEFENSE: IRAN OFFERS THE CZECHS A VISIT TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L PRAGUE 000612 SIPDIS SIPDIS EUR/NCE FOR VOLK, VIKMANIS-KELLER, AND KOSTELANCIK E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/28/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV MASS MARR EZ SUBJECT: MISSILE DEFENSE: IRAN OFFERS THE CZECHS A VISIT TO TEHRAN REF: A. PRAGUE 591 ¶B. PRAGUE 528 ¶C. PRAGUE 501 Classified By: DCM Cameron Munter for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) This is an action request. Please see paragraph 4. ¶2. (C) Deputy Minister of Defense Martin Bartak told DCM on May 28 that the Iranian Charge d'Affaires recently approached senior representatives of the Czech government with an invitation to visit Iran. The invitation is intended to demonstrate that Iran does not present a ballistic missile threat to the Czech Republic or the West. The Czechs were non-committal, but responded that if they were to visit Iran, they would want to see sites of their own choosing. ¶3. (C) Post suspects the Iranian approach is aimed at dividing allied opinion. We seriously doubt a Czech delegation would be given full access to ongoing Iranian technology development programs. Bartak said he would welcome U.S. thinking on the appropriate response. ¶4. (C) Action request: Post requests Washington provide points on the advisability of a Czech delegation visit to Tehran at this time. GRABER