FONMIN OSKANIAN CONFIRMS MAY 12 ELECTION DATE;

C O N F I D E N T I A L YEREVAN 000047 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR EUR/CARC, EUR/ACE E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/11/2013 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM PBTS AM AJ IR SUBJECT: FONMIN OSKANIAN CONFIRMS MAY 12 ELECTION DATE; UPDATES ON RANGE OF TOPICS Classified By: CDA A.F. Godfrey, reasons 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: In a January 12 meeting to update the Foreign Minister on Iraq strategy (septel),CDA and Pol/Econ Chief were able to cover a range of issues, including election planning, Nagorno-Karabakh, the Ambassador-designate Hoagland's nomination, Armenia-Turkish relations, and Iran. As often with the Foreign Minister, we covered considerable ground in a short time, as he dispensed issue after issue with just a nod or word, leaving us with few "soundbites" for our reporting but a good indication of broad agreement. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) ELECTION TIMING: Foreign Minister Oskanian confirmed widespread rumors that Armenia's parliamentary election would take place May 12, 2007. He said that President Kocharian would sign January 31 the decree officially setting the election date, and that the MFA would immediately ("the next day") send an invitation to OSCE/ODIHR for an Election Observation Mission. ¶3. (C) NAGORNO-KARABAKH: Oskanian was positive on NK, saying he had his instructions from President Kocharian, and knew how to proceed during his upcoming meeting with the Minsk Group Co-Chairs and Azerbaijani FM Mammadyarov during their meeting later this month. ¶4. (C) RENEWING OUR IRAN MESSAGE: CDA took the opportunity to share with Oskanian the trend of Washington's thinking on Iran policy, based on the recent EUR-IO chief of mission conference. CDA highlighted that a unified international voice against Iran's illegal nuclear ambitions remained high on the U.S. agenda. Our hope is that 2007 will bring stronger, clearer messages from key European and international partners to Iran that violation of its international nuclear obligations would not be tolerated, and UNSC resolutions must be strictly observed. He mentioned that keeping watch on financial flows and Iran's access to foreign investment was another priority area for bringing Iran into compliance with its international obligations. GODFREY