JAPANESE QUESTIONS REGARDING IRANIAN NUCLEAR

UNCLAS TOKYO 003002 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/J, ISN/RA, NEA/IR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AORC IR MNUC TRGY JA SUBJECT: JAPANESE QUESTIONS REGARDING IRANIAN NUCLEAR CONFERENCE DEMARCHE REF: SECSTATE 112229 Sensitive but unclassified. Please handle accordingly. ¶1. (U) This is an action request. Please see para 5. ¶2. (SBU) Econ officer delivered demarche and non-paper in ref to officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Non-proliferation, Science, and Nuclear Energy Department on October 23. Similarly, Pol officer delivered the demarche and non-paper to officials of MOFA's Second Middle East Division. ¶3. (SBU) Officials in MOFA's Non-proliferation office noted they would coordinate Japan's handling of the conference. They made no commitments to take action, but agreed the conference seemed problematic and noted they would work with the U.S. on how to best respond. Second Middle East Division officials reported they have not received any communications yet from the Iranians about this conference, and that when they called the Iranian Embassy in Tokyo to inquire it was evident that the Embassy was also unaware of the details of the conference. ¶4. (SBU) Foreign Ministry Non-proliferation officials came back with a series of questions not covered in the initial demarche. Their questions about U.S. actions and on the details of NSG guidelines suggest MOFA officials are looking more deeply into the conference. ¶5. (SBU) Action requested: Post would appreciate further points to use in responding to the following questions from MOFA: ¶A. What measures is the U.S. taking to discourage attendance by U.S. institutions or citizens? ¶B. Is the U.S. informing the IAEA, and what, if anything, is the USG asking of the IAEA? ¶C. Does the U.S. expect Iran's neighbors to send representatives? If so, does the USG have any plans to approach them regarding the conference? ¶D. MOFA's understanding of the NSG guidelines is that controls on technology transfer do not apply to information in the public domain. Given this understanding, would it be appropriate to invoke the guidelines as legal support for NSG participating governments to stop their nationals from taking part in the conference? ¶6. (SBU) MOFA officials made no promises regarding reftel request for host governments to discourage other countries from attending the conference. However, they asked if they could use the information we provided to make such demarches. Officials further requested that we contact them before raising the issue with any other government organizations. They noted they would begin considering how to respond to the conference but would await further information in response to their questions. SCHIEFFER