Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ABUDHABI190
2008-02-11 14:17:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Abu Dhabi
Cable title:  

MFA MINSTATE VIEWS ON IRAN

Tags:  PREL PGOV PHUM UNSC IAEA IR AE 
pdf how-to read a cable
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ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 111417Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0410
INFO RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 7589
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA 0051
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0164
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0413
RUEHDE/IRAN RPO DUBAI
C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 000190 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/11/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM UNSC IAEA IR AE
SUBJECT: MFA MINSTATE VIEWS ON IRAN


STATE 13345

Classified by CDA Martin Quinn, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 000190

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/11/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM UNSC IAEA IR AE
SUBJECT: MFA MINSTATE VIEWS ON IRAN


STATE 13345

Classified by CDA Martin Quinn, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) The Charge took the opportunity of a February 10 meeting with
UAE Minster of State for Foreign Affairs Mohammed Hussain al-Sha'ali
to emphasize the importance of keeping pressure on Iran through UNSC
deliberations on potential sanctions, also noting the USG stance not
to comment extensively on Iran's elections in advance of the vote.
Al-Sha'ali agreed that avoiding much public comment was well advised,
and stated that elections will not likely change the political
dynamic in Iran; the situation could stagnate until "something
happens" (presumably a strategically significant event inside or
outside of Iran that impacts on the leadership equation).


2. (C) The MinState was very interested in the status of U.S.
discussions with Iran in the context of Iraqi security. Worried
about Tehran's influence in Baghdad, he asked: "Do they [the
Iranians] feel they have the upper hand in Iraq?" He pressed for a
U.S. assessment as to whether our talks with Iran actually brought
the violence down, but when pressed for his view of the same question
he said with a smile, "we don't talk to them about that." Iran is
"historically tough" in negotiations and "very evasive," he added,
and usually tries your patience rather than proactively helping to
resolve issues on the table.


3. (C) Al-Sha'ali offered his view that the Iranians are willing to
"pay the price" of enduring sanctions rather than work to avoid them.
The more they are pressed, the more they resist, particularly when
they feel their national identity being threatened. In this sense
they are somewhat like Israel, he quipped, always taking a firm
nationalistic stance.


4. (C) The current Iranian regime has cut its relations with many
countries, noted the MinState, including the limited trade and
cultural ties it once enjoyed. Tehran did this to cut its people off
from the outside world so that it could exert more control by fencing
out the neighbors, he suggested. (Comment: He did not refer to the
robust trading ties between the UAE and Iran, however. End comment.)
Iran is still controlled by fundamentalists, said al-Sha'ali, and
its current president is simply a tool in their hands.

QUINN