DEMARCHE TO UK ON IRAN'S PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L LONDON 000763 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/13/2018 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KDEM IR UK SUBJECT: DEMARCHE TO UK ON IRAN'S PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS REF: STATE 25587 Classified By: Political Counselor Richard Mills for reasons 1.4 (B) an d (D). ¶1. (SBU) In response to reftel, and following up on earlier discussions between Embassy and Department visitors with Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on how best to coordinate public statements on Iran's Majles elections, London Iran Watcher (Poloff) delivered reftel points and draft USG statement to Iran Coordination Group Bilateral Team Leader Margaret Tongue on March 12. ¶2. (C) Tongue on March 13 advised that HMG and key EU member governments have agreed on an EU Presidency statement that will be released March 15 or 16 and which will incorporate all the major elements, in somewhat less detail, than the draft USG statement. Tongue commented that coordinating a statement via the EU Presidency rather than in Brussels, enabled supportive EU governments, such as UK, Holland, and France, to avoid likely opposition by some EU members to making any statement at all on Iran's elections. Visit London's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/london/index. cfm TUTTLE