(C) ITALIANS CONCERNED ABOUT SHARING IRAN-RELATED

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 001948 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR ISN/RA E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/12/2017 TAGS: KNNP PARM IR IT SUBJECT: (C) ITALIANS CONCERNED ABOUT SHARING IRAN-RELATED NSG DENIAL INFORMATION WITH THE IAEA REF: A. STATE 110813 ¶B. ROME 1487 ¶C. STATE 69315 Classified By: Acting Ecmin William Meara for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) On September 10, Econoff delivered to the Italian Trade Ministry ref A demarche regarding the USG proposal to release to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Iran-related Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG) export denial information. Salvatore Pistorio, the Trade Ministry official responsible for export licensing, said the USG proposal sounded "like a good idea," but said he could not offer a definitive response until discussing the proposal with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and his superiors within the Trade Ministry. (Note: Pistorio is an Office Director-level official. Delivery of this demarche to the Trade Ministry was delayed by the August holidays, when GOI officials were not available. Ref B reports on the July delivery of ref C points to the MFA. End note.) ¶2. (C) As reported ref B, MFA officials expressed concern in July regarding the confidentiality of the Iran-related denial information that we propose to release to the IAEA. Carlo Tripepi, the MFA official responsible for GOI participation in the NSG, told us he is concerned information submitted to the IAEA might be viewed as an Iranian "wish list," and might be used by Russia and other countries to facilitate the sale of NSG controlled items to Iran outside of normal channels. SPOGLI