IAEA BOG: JORDAN CANNOT THROW ITS HAT INTO THE RING

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 002328 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/06/2018 TAGS: PREL IAEA KNNP AORC SY JO SUBJECT: IAEA BOG: JORDAN CANNOT THROW ITS HAT INTO THE RING REF: AMMAN 2262 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Daniel Rubinstein for reasons 1.4(b) a nd (d) ¶1. (C) In an August 6 meeting with Charge, Foreign Minister Salah Al-Bashir affirmed that Syria has the Arab League's (AL) endorsement for the IAEA BOG MESA seat, putting Jordan in "an extremely awkward position" were it to nominate itself at this point. He also cited strong regional perceptions that moderates are on the defensive, France is courting Syria, and the peace process is not showing visible gains, as precluding Jordan from breaking AL consensus and throwing its hat into the ring, despite the opportunity it would afford for U.S.-Jordanian cooperation on both Syrian and Iranian nuclear issues. ¶2. (C) Bashir said that, according to the GOJ's understanding of IAEA voting rules, at the election itself, any nation can object to the Syrian nomination, forcing a secret ballot. He suggested that the USG develop a strategy to force such a ballot to open the door for an alternative country to take the MESA seat. Comment: Bashir gave no indication that he saw Jordan as the alternative. End comment. Visit Amman's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman Rubinstein