PHILIPPINES WELCOMES U.S. VIEWS ON IAEA ACTIVITY

S E C R E T MANILA 000505 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR ISN/RA (NEPHEW),IO/T (VONBEHREN),EAP/MTS, EAP/RSP E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2018 TAGS: PREL UNGA PARM KNNP IR RP MNUC IAEA AORC SUBJECT: PHILIPPINES WELCOMES U.S. VIEWS ON IAEA ACTIVITY RELATED TO IRAN REF: A. SECSTATE 19694 ¶B. SECSTATE 19200 Classified By: Acting DCM Tom Gibbons, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (S) Post delivered reftel demarches to Acting Executive Director Leah Ruiz of the Department of Foreign Affairs' Office of United Nations and Other International Organizations (UNIO) on February 27 and February 28 regarding International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) assessments of Iran's activities. In both demarches, poloff noted that Iran continues to disregard UN Security Council resolutions. Poloff reviewed with Ruiz the assessments of IAEA Director ElBaradei's February 22 report on Iran's nuclear program February 27 (ref B). Ruiz listened carefully and said that she would need to consult with colleagues before commenting but said that the Philippines shares our concern about Iran's lack of compliance. ¶2. (S) On February 28, poloff delivered additional points to Ruiz (ref A) based on IAEA Deputy Director Heinonen's February 25 briefing to IAEA Member States. Ruiz listened to Heinonen's conclusions, particularly that reports of Iranian nuclear weapons-related work could not/not be safely called "baseless fabrication," as Iran is claiming. Poloff underscored three points contained in the non-paper of ref A concerning 1) Iran's enrichment-related activities, 2) Iran's refusal to implement the Additional Protocol, and 3) the lack of information on Iran's work on weaponization. The next day Ruiz said that she had received materials from the Philippine Mission in Geneva, which she would review carefully alongside the nonpapers in refs A and B. Visit Embassy Manila's Classified SIPRNET website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/manila/index. cfm You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website: http://www.state.sgov. KENNEY