CROATIAN RESPONSE ON IAEA POINTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ZAGREB 000827 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/SCE BALIAN, IO/T VON BEHREN, ISN/RA NEPHEW AND KESSLER E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/10/2017 TAGS: KNNP MNUC IR IAEA AORC HR PREL SUBJECT: CROATIAN RESPONSE ON IAEA POINTS REF: A. STATE 123352 ¶B. STATE 124823 ¶C. HOLTZAPPLE-KESSLER 9/7/07 TELCON Classified By: POL/ECON CHIEF RICK HOLTZAPPLE, Reasons 1.4 B/D ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: As both FM and Ambassador were traveling on September 7, P/E Chief presented reftel A and B points to Assistant Foreign Minister Pjer Simunovic and Croatia's IAEA Governor Mario Horvatic. Croatia supports the US position on the IAEA Action Plan, but does not plan to speak at the BOG, as the EU position will include Croatia's support. Croatia has already delivered its position that UNSCR obligations must also be fulfilled directly to an Iranian envoy who visited Croatia on September 6. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) As reported in REF C, Horvatic said that he was "reassured" to hear the USG points, as he had feared that we would view the IAEA Action Plan as "worthless." He said the Croatian position was also to view the Action Plan as a potentially positive contribution to the issue, although the timeline for implementation remained a major question. Horvatic added that Croatia strongly supports the position that the IAEA Action Plan is "not enough" It does not cover all of Iran's international obligations, and Iran must meet its obligations under the UNSC Resolutions as well. Horvatic clearly understood the obligations Iran has under the UNSCRs that are not covered in the IAEA Action Plan, listing several of them from memory. Horvatic commented that it seemed unlikely the Iranians would cease enrichment activities, and that a third sanctions resolution would therefore likely result, although he was curious to know what the US thought would be the timeline for such a resolution. ¶3. (C) Horvatic said he had been briefed by a UK representative on the same issue earlier in the day. The Croatians understood that the EU statement at the IAEA BOG meeting would make these same points. Therefore, Horvatic said, Croatia would not be making a separate statement at the IAEA meeting, but would align itself with the EU statement. He said that Croatia's "silent support" should not be interpreted as any weakness in Croatia's stance, but merely reflect the fact that, as an EU candidate, Croatia agreed to let the EU Presidency representative speak on Croatia's behalf. ¶4. (C) Horvatic also commented on the September 6 visit by Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the Chair of the Majlis' Foreign Policy and National Security Committee, to Zagreb. Boroujerdi met in separate sessions with President Mesic and with MFA officials, including Simunovic and Horvatic. Horvatic reported that Boroujerdi was pushing the line that the IAEA Action Plan was as much as Iran could do. In both meetings, Simunovic said, the Croatians made their position clear. "As a country that has friendly relations with Iran," Horvatic noted, "we were able to give them some friendly advice": that Iran must also fulfill the requirements of the UNSCRs. Boroujerdi's response was that, if a third sanctions resolution was enacted, then Iran would refuse to undertake even the actions in the IAEA Action Plan, and "Iran would just have to continue on our way alone." BRADTKE