IRANIAN DIPLOMACY MOVES INTO HIGH GEAR, PART 2

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 000526

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/16/2038
TAGS: PREL PTER EFIN BR VE EC CO BL IR XR CH UN
SUBJECT: IRANIAN DIPLOMACY MOVES INTO HIGH GEAR, PART 2

REF: A. BRASILIA 420

B. 07 BRASILIA 2132

BRASILIA 00000526 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Ambassador Clifford M. Sobel, reasons 1.4 B and D.


1. (S) Summary: Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Reza
Sheikh-Attar visited Brasilia in mid-March to press Brazil to
join an anti-American bloc in South America composed of
Ecuador, Bolivia, and Venezuela, and Iranian President Mahmud
Ahmadi-Nejad continues to try to arrange an official visit to
Brazil, according to Senator Heraclito Fortes (strictly
protect),chairman of the Foreign Relations and National
Defense Committee. Fortes said the Iranian diplomat
complained about UN pressure on Iran's nuclear program, and
said that after the Olympics, China would deliberately exert
pressure on the U.S. dollar by selling off investments in the
U.S. suddenly or gradually. This cable provides additional
information on Sheikh-Attar's activities reported in ref A.
Fortes is one of a handful of Brazilian legislators with
serious concerns about Iranian overtures in the region, which
he sees as an effort to exploit Latin America's
vulnerabilities to advance Iranian interests by undermining
the U.S. in the region. End Summary.

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Iran Chafing Under UN Pressure
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2. (S) Senator Heraclito Fortes (Democrat, opposition; of
Piaui),chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations and National
Defense Committee, briefed the Ambassador on March 28 on his
meeting in mid-March with Ali Reza Sheikh-Attar, Deputy
Foreign Minister of Iran. Fortes recalled our previous
conversations with him on Iranian activities in the region
(ref B) and said that recent events have borne out his
conviction that Iran is behind certain problems in Latin
America. He said Sheikh-Attar comes to Brazil occasionally
and always follows the same itinerary: Brasilia, La Paz,
Quito, Caracas, and Tehran, and "the conversation is always
the same": he complains about UN pressures on Iran over
uranium enrichment, centrifuges, UN inspections, and so
forth.

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Iran Urges Formation of Anti-American Bloc
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3. (S) The Iranian diplomat was lobbying Brazil to join an
anti-America bloc, Fortes said, which in his view already
includes Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. Sheikh-Attar told
Fortes he was also talking with Argentina about the bloc,
although Fortes did not know whether Sheikh-Attar had gone to
Argentina on this latest trip to Latin America. Fortes noted
that Sheikh-Attar also said, "Brazil will lose if it doesn't
participate." Sheikh-Attar also complained that Brazil has
not yet received an official visit by Iranian President Ahmed
Ahmadinejad, Fortes noted.


4. (S) In Fortes's view, it is difficult to put together an
anti-American bloc in South America, but if Iran were
successful, such a bloc could cause trouble after the Beijing
Olympics. He said categorically, "There is zero chance that
Brazil will participate" in such a bloc, although there are a
small number in the government such as presidential foreign
policy adviser Marco Aurelio Garcia who are favorable.
Fortes said Sheikh-Attar also met with officials at the
Ministry of Foreign Relations (ref A),and did not know
whether he had seen President Lula.

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Iranian Meddling in Latin America
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5. (S) Citing the recent conflict between Ecuador and

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Colombia as an example, Chairman Fortes noted again (ref B)
that Iran is trying to cause unrest in Latin America. He
said Iran may have played a role because his previous
contacts with Iranian officials have led him to the
conclusion that Iran intends to transfer conflict from the
Middle East to Latin America. He also pointed to technology
transfers to Venezuela (NFI),the discovery earlier in March
2008 of depleted uranium in a FARC safehouse, and the
"handling of arms" (NFI) in the region as actions in which
Iran may have been involved, adding that this is all hard to
prove. Chairman Fortes also said that while Iran has used
Venezuela to open doors in Latin America, it is starting to
"find its own channels" and will not need Venezuela any more.


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Iranian Diplomat: China Will Move Against the Dollar
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6. (S) Chairman Fortes reported that Sheikh-Attar told him
the world financial order had flipped from what it was 30
years ago, and now countries such as China and Japan were
able to make investments that were unthinkable in the past,
and suggested that Brazil's economic and security
relationships ought to depart from Brazil's traditional
alignment with the U.S. and Europe. Sheikh-Attar also
predicted that after the Olympics, China would "start making
moves" to cause a collapse in the value of the dollar by
selling off dollars and investments in the U.S. either
suddenly or gradually. The Iranian told Chairman Fortes that
the Chinese actions would "be more powerful than an atomic
bomb." In reference to this and the other statements by the
Iranian diplomat, Fortes said, "I just look at him and think
he is a fool." Asked whether he thought the Iranian knew
this information about China or was speculating, Fortes said
he could not evaluate that and surmised that "China and Iran
must be talking to some extent."


7. (S) Comment: Chairman Fortes is one of a handful of
Brazilian legislators with serious concerns about Iranian
overtures in the region, which he sees as an effort to
exploit Latin America's vulnerabilities to advance Iranian
interests by undermining the U.S. in the region. As Fortes
previously said (ref B),there are many dots to connect that
reveal a pattern of destabilizing efforts by Iran. The
statements by the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister, and the
Deputy Petroleum Minister before him (ref B),reveal the
broad outlines of Iran's plan to foster hostility toward the
U.S. and reorient the region, working through Chavez, Correa,
and Morales. While the Brazilian Foreign Ministry seeks a
"correct" relationship with Iran (ref A),the Congress has
little power to influence the policy except by stalling
ambassadorial appointments and appealing to public opinion,
neither of which Senator Fortes has yet done. A significant
development such as a visit by Ahmedi-Nejad to Brazil could
prompt him and a few others to demand explanations from the
Foreign Ministry about its Iran policy.
SOBEL