KING ABDULLAH SNUBS AHMEDINEJAD'S INVITATION

S E C R E T RIYADH 002461 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS FOR NEA\ARP FOR RJACHIM AND SRAMESH E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/09/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR SA SUBJECT: KING ABDULLAH SNUBS AHMEDINEJAD'S INVITATION Classified By: Ambassador Ford Fraker for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (S) On December 7, Ambassador Fraker and POL/C met with King Abdullah at his Al-Jandriyya farm to discuss President Bush's planned visit to Saudi Arabia (SA) in January. During the discussion, the King told the Ambassador that on the margins of the GCC summit in Doha, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad had invited him to visit Iran. The King immediately told him that he would be unable to go. Ahmedinejad, in response, said that he planned to come to SA for the upcoming Hajj. The King noted: all muslims are welcome. ¶2. (S) On the recently released National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran, the King said that the report had not changed his mind about the true intentions of the Iranians regarding their nuclear program. He said, "the Iranians are not good people." He also said that he believes the Iranians were lying the whole time about their nuclear intentions, asking why the Iranians would have put up with sanctions and not allowed full inspections if they had nothing to hide. In response to a question from the Ambassador, the King said that he believed the NIE would weaken Chinese and Russian interest in imposing further sanctions on Iran. The King agreed to continue to urge China and Russia to maintain pressure on Iran. However, he did not think the report would weaken European resolve. ¶3. (S) Earlier, Minister of Finance Al Assaf made a point of telling the POL/C that the dollar had served the Kingdom well for many years and that the SAG has no intention of either revaluing the Riyal or de-pegging from the dollar. FRAKER