BULGARIA EXPRESSES CONCERN TO IRAN ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SOFIA 000735 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR NORDBERG EUR/NCE, NEA/IR E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/15/2017 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL EUN KDEM IR BU SUBJECT: BULGARIA EXPRESSES CONCERN TO IRAN ON DETAINED/MISSING AMCITS REF: SECSTATE 80300 Classified By: POL/ECON Counselor Brad Freden, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) On June 14 POL/ECON Officer delivered reftel points on detained/missing American citizens in Iran to Oleg Doychinov, Iran Desk Officer from MFA's Asia Directorate. Doychinov was sympathetic and said he would convey Bulgarian and USG concern for the American citizens to his Iranian counterparts in Sofia. He cautioned, however, that he did not have a frequent communication with the Iranians and that they "were very difficult to work with." ¶2. (C) The Chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign Policy Commission, former Foreign Minister Solomon Passy, spoke to his Iranian counterpart about the Amcits on June 14. Passy became interested in the case after being approached in Sofia by George Soros on behalf of two of the detainees. Passy's Legislative Assistant initially sent us a draft of a letter from Passy to Allaeddin Borudjerdi, the Chairman of the of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Majlis (e-mailed to EUR/NCE),who Passy had hosted in Sofia earlier this year. When we pointed out that the letter only made reference to two of the five detainees )- those specifically mentioned by Soros )- and never mentioned the fact that they were American citizens, Passy decided to instead call Borudjerdi. ¶3. (C) According to the Legislative Assistant, Passy in his conversation with Borudjerdi compared the five Amcits in Iran to the Bulgarian nurses detained in Libya. He reportedly did not differentiate among the detainees, as had been the case with the letter, but noted Soros' interest in two. Borudjerdi's response was predictable: the Iranian "services" say these people are a threat to national security. Passy also spoke to the Bulgarian ambassador in Tehran and to deputy Foreign Minister Faim Chaushev about the possibility of a formal demarche. The MFA is considering his request. Beyrle