Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ADDISABABA2803
2008-10-08 07:53:00
SECRET//NOFORN
Embassy Addis Ababa
Cable title:
ETHIOPIA SEES IRAN RELATIONS AS "PROBLEMATIC"
how-toVZCZCXRO0981 OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDIR RUEHKUK RUEHROV DE RUEHDS #2803 2820753 ZNY SSSSS ZZH O 080753Z OCT 08 ZDK FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2320 INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE RUEHDO/AMEMBASSY DOHA IMMEDIATE 0188 RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL IMMEDIATE RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE IMMEDIATE RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE RUEPADJ/CJTF HOA IMMEDIATE RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
S E C R E T ADDIS ABABA 002803
NOFORN
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/06/2018
TAGS: PREL ET IR ER
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA SEES IRAN RELATIONS AS "PROBLEMATIC"
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i. Deborah R. Malac for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).
S E C R E T ADDIS ABABA 002803
NOFORN
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/06/2018
TAGS: PREL ET IR ER
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA SEES IRAN RELATIONS AS "PROBLEMATIC"
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i. Deborah R. Malac for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).
1. (S/NF) In separate October 6 meetings with Pol/Econ Chief,
two Ethiopian Foreign Ministry officials noted that Ethiopia
maintains a "problematic" relationship with Iran. Noting
recent press reports of Iranian solidarity with Eritrea over
"the plots of big powers" and an Iran-Eritrea memorandum of
understanding on cultural, scientific, and educational
cooperation, Pol/Econ Chief asked MFA contacts whether
Ethiopia is trying to counterbalance Eritrea's close ties
with Iran.
2. (S/NF) UK Citizen and Strategic Planning Advisor to the
Foreign Ministry, Patrick Gilkes, argued that "there is no
possibility to counterbalance Iran against Eritrea; Iran is
clearly in the enemy camp." Gilkes argued that, along with
Qatar, Iran's support to the Eritrean regime and, through it,
to extremists in Somalia fundamentally threaten Ethiopia's
interests in the Horn of Africa region. Gilkes argued that
the Ethiopian Foreign Minister held only courtesy bilateral
talks with his Iranian counterpart in Tehran during the
September 2007 Non-Alligned Movement meeting while Eritrean
President Isaias has sustained much deeper engagement with
Tehran. Tangentially, Gilkes volunteered that while it
understands sensitivities stemming from the presence of a
U.S. military base in Qatar, the Ethiopian Government (GoE)
feels particularly frustrated at the United States' relative
silence on Qatar's distinctly unhelpful role in the region
through its clear alliance with Eritrea.
3. (S/NF) Later in the day, MFA Director General for Europe
and the Americas, Tesfaye Yilma, responded to Pol/Econ
Chief's query by noting that Ethiopia maintains a
"problematic" relationship with Iran. Fundamentally, Tesfaye
argued, Iran always maintains an ideological component to its
foreign policy and foreign relations. While Ethiopia opened
an embassy in Tehran when the ruling Ethiopian People's
Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) came to power in 1991,
it closed that Embassy in 1995 due to Iranian linkages with
Sudan surrounding the failed attempt to assassinate Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak in Addis Ababa during an Organization
of African Unity (OAU) summit. Despite Iran's continued
diplomatic presence in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia has
intentionally chosen not to re-open its Tehran embassy.
4. (S/NF) Tesfaye went on to lament the increasingly close
ties between Eritrea and Iran, noting a recent state visit to
Tehran by President Isaias in which he met with both
President Ahmadinejad and the Ayatollah and apparently came
away with an arms supply agreement possibly intended for
extremists in Somalia. Tesfaye went on to note that
state-owned Iranian satellite television news station "Press
TV" has become effectively an extension of Eritrean
state-owned Eri-TV in its coverage of the Horn of Africa.
Tesfaye argued that Press TV's reliance on Eri-TV is
particularly unhelpful in its coverage of Somalia, which he
argued is almost exclusively Eri-TV sourced. (Note: While
Tesfaye Yilma's office does not cover Iran, he noted that
September 2008 reports of Iranian food assistance to Eritrea
had received significant attention in the Foreign Ministry
and had been the subject of senior staff-discussion. End
Note).
MALAC
NOFORN
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/06/2018
TAGS: PREL ET IR ER
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA SEES IRAN RELATIONS AS "PROBLEMATIC"
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i. Deborah R. Malac for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).
1. (S/NF) In separate October 6 meetings with Pol/Econ Chief,
two Ethiopian Foreign Ministry officials noted that Ethiopia
maintains a "problematic" relationship with Iran. Noting
recent press reports of Iranian solidarity with Eritrea over
"the plots of big powers" and an Iran-Eritrea memorandum of
understanding on cultural, scientific, and educational
cooperation, Pol/Econ Chief asked MFA contacts whether
Ethiopia is trying to counterbalance Eritrea's close ties
with Iran.
2. (S/NF) UK Citizen and Strategic Planning Advisor to the
Foreign Ministry, Patrick Gilkes, argued that "there is no
possibility to counterbalance Iran against Eritrea; Iran is
clearly in the enemy camp." Gilkes argued that, along with
Qatar, Iran's support to the Eritrean regime and, through it,
to extremists in Somalia fundamentally threaten Ethiopia's
interests in the Horn of Africa region. Gilkes argued that
the Ethiopian Foreign Minister held only courtesy bilateral
talks with his Iranian counterpart in Tehran during the
September 2007 Non-Alligned Movement meeting while Eritrean
President Isaias has sustained much deeper engagement with
Tehran. Tangentially, Gilkes volunteered that while it
understands sensitivities stemming from the presence of a
U.S. military base in Qatar, the Ethiopian Government (GoE)
feels particularly frustrated at the United States' relative
silence on Qatar's distinctly unhelpful role in the region
through its clear alliance with Eritrea.
3. (S/NF) Later in the day, MFA Director General for Europe
and the Americas, Tesfaye Yilma, responded to Pol/Econ
Chief's query by noting that Ethiopia maintains a
"problematic" relationship with Iran. Fundamentally, Tesfaye
argued, Iran always maintains an ideological component to its
foreign policy and foreign relations. While Ethiopia opened
an embassy in Tehran when the ruling Ethiopian People's
Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) came to power in 1991,
it closed that Embassy in 1995 due to Iranian linkages with
Sudan surrounding the failed attempt to assassinate Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak in Addis Ababa during an Organization
of African Unity (OAU) summit. Despite Iran's continued
diplomatic presence in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia has
intentionally chosen not to re-open its Tehran embassy.
4. (S/NF) Tesfaye went on to lament the increasingly close
ties between Eritrea and Iran, noting a recent state visit to
Tehran by President Isaias in which he met with both
President Ahmadinejad and the Ayatollah and apparently came
away with an arms supply agreement possibly intended for
extremists in Somalia. Tesfaye went on to note that
state-owned Iranian satellite television news station "Press
TV" has become effectively an extension of Eritrean
state-owned Eri-TV in its coverage of the Horn of Africa.
Tesfaye argued that Press TV's reliance on Eri-TV is
particularly unhelpful in its coverage of Somalia, which he
argued is almost exclusively Eri-TV sourced. (Note: While
Tesfaye Yilma's office does not cover Iran, he noted that
September 2008 reports of Iranian food assistance to Eritrea
had received significant attention in the Foreign Ministry
and had been the subject of senior staff-discussion. End
Note).
MALAC