POLAND TO CONTINUE STRICT IMPLEMENTATION OF UNSCR

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 001170 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/02/2018 TAGS: PREL KNNP IR MNUC PARM PL SUBJECT: POLAND TO CONTINUE STRICT IMPLEMENTATION OF UNSCR SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAN REF: STATE 105173 Classified By: Political Counselor F. Daniel Sainz, Reason 1.4 (d) ¶1. (C) The GOP considers the potential threat posed by Iran to be among the world's "highest concerns," according to Piotr Kozlowski, Iran desk officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Political External Chief made reftel demarche 3 October with Kozlowski and left copies of UNSC Resolution ¶1835. ¶2. (C) Kozlowski expressed appreciation for the U.S. position. He said Warsaw would continue to adhere strictly to all UNSCR sanctions related to Iran, and would urge other governments to fulfill their UN obligations. Kozlowski, who completed a diplomatic posting to Iran this past spring, said Warsaw continually raised these issues with Tehran bilaterally. He added that the Polish business community fully supported the government's position and had refrained from pursuing banned business activities in Iran. ¶3. (C) In addition to UN sanctions, Kozlowski noted that Warsaw had discussed in the EU context further tightening of sanctions, albeit unsuccessfully. He said Warsaw was prepared to explore further ideas to force Iranian compliance with the UN and IAEA, though he acknowledged that it would be difficult to develop new initiatives in the current political environment. In particular, Kozlowski suggested that the West needed to be careful not to strengthen the hand of political hard-liners in Iran prior to the upcoming presidential elections there. ASHE