Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07SAOPAULO264
2007-04-02 12:44:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Sao Paulo
Cable title:
MEDIA REACTION: SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA: IRAN, DETENTION OF
how-toVZCZCXYZ0788 OO RUEHWEB DE RUEHSO #0264 0921244 ZNR UUUUU ZZH O 021244Z APR 07 FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6683 INFO RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHDC IMMEDIATE RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 7809 RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO PRIORITY 7951 RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 2759
UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000264
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE INR/R/MR; IIP/R/MR; WHA/PD
DEPT PASS USTR
USDOC 4322/MAC/OLAC/JAFEE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR OPRC OIIP ETRD BR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA: IRAN, DETENTION OF
UK SAILORS; SAO PAULO
"Tehran's Trials"
Liberal, largest national circulation daily Folha de S. Paulo (4/2)
editorialized: "In scenes that evoke Moscow's notorious trials,
British sailors and marines captured by Iran were exhibited making
'confessions' that are as real as a three-dollar bill. If Iran had
any standing in the dispute with the UK, it lost it by subjecting
the prisoners to degrading treatment that contradicts the Geneva
Convention. The Iranian behavior exhales a smell of farce....
Everything indicates that in view of the gradually tougher isolation
of its regime and the increasing U.S. pressure, Tehran has decided
to harden its position. It did not have much to lose. The
imprisonment of the Brits would create a new fact. And their
liberation could always be used as a trump card.... For those
optimists, the episode is a signal that the UN pressure on Tehran is
working and must be kept and even reinforced."
McMullen