ARAB LEAGUE OFFICIAL ON SYG MOUSSA'S VIENNA TRIP,

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 000698 SIPDIS SIPDIS ISN/RA FOR NEPHEW UNVIE FOR PAPPAS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/07/2018 TAGS: IAEA MNUC PARM KNNP PREL IS IR EG SUBJECT: ARAB LEAGUE OFFICIAL ON SYG MOUSSA'S VIENNA TRIP, IRAN AND AL SUMMIT REF: A. CAIRO 434 ¶B. STATE 19694 Classified By: ECPO Minister-Counselor William R. Stewart for reason 1. 4 (b). ¶1. (C) Summary: Arab League Disarmament Department Director Wael Al-Assad told us April 3 that Arab League SYG Amr Moussa plans to visit Vienna April 16 and 17 to discuss the Arab Group's draft IAEA General Conference "Israeli Nuclear Threat" (INT) resolution, and would be interested in meeting with Ambassador Schulte. Al-Assad said SYG Moussa is open to adjustments on the resolution, but Al-Assad confirmed that the draft resolution still singles out Israel. Al-Assad said that the March 29-30 Arab League Summit in Damascus did not focus on disarmament issues. Regarding SYG Moussa's response to ref B non-paper, Al-Assad said the Arab League will not defend Iran's position, but will call for a "regional solution" to nonproliferation issues. End summary. ¶2. (C) Al-Assad confirmed to us April 3 that SYG Moussa will travel to Vienna for two days of meetings April 16 and 17. Al-Assad said that Moussa would be interested in meeting Ambassador Schulte in Vienna, and that Moussa's message would be that there may be room for certain adjustments to the INT resolution. Al-Assad was not able to say exactly what adjustments SYG Moussa might offer, but promised, "We are open to compromise and new ideas." Al-Assad did confirm that the substance of the draft resolution still singles out Israel and calls on Israel to join the NPT. In Vienna, Moussa plans to meet with the Arab Ambassadors, IAEA DG El-Baradei, the NAM Troika, and the President and Chancellor of Austria; he also plans to give a public address to the OSCE council. Al-Assad said Moussa plans to focus on the INT resolution during his discussions with the Arab ambassadors. ¶3. (C) Poloff followed up ref B demarche on Iranian noncompliance with the IAEA and UNSC delivered previously to Al-Assad (ref A) by asking about Moussa's reaction to the non-paper. Al-Assad said Moussa had discussed the non-paper with his staff. According to Al-Assad, Moussa concluded that the Arab League will not defend the Iranian position, but will call for a "regional solution" to nonproliferation issues. ¶4. (C) Al-Assad cautioned that the Arab League does not want the Iranian nuclear issue to be a precedent that would prevent other states from pursuing the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Poloff responded that the U.S. supports the peaceful use of nuclear energy within the context of safeguards and other nonproliferation commitments. Al-Assad continued by saying that the Arab League is more concerned with the destructive Iranian role in Iraq, Lebanon and Gaza, than with the Iranian nuclear program. Al-Assad said he hoped for an eventual regional security dialogue involving official Israeli and Iranian representatives, but that current political realities made such a forum "impossible." ¶5. (C) Al-Assad said that he attended the March 29-30 Arab League Summit in Damascus, and that although the Summit Declaration included a paragraph on a Middle East Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone, the summit itself did not focus on disarmament issues. He noted that the Summit Declaration included the term, "WMD Free Zone," instead of "Nuclear Weapons Free Zone," simply out of a lack of specialized knowledge. Al-Assad predicted that the 2009 Arab League Summit would focus more on disarmament, and said that the Arab League Foreign Ministers would discuss disarmament and nonproliferation issues in the interim. RICCIARDONE