JORDAN: DEMARCHE DELIVERED ON IRANIAN NUCLEAR

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 002604 SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA/FO ECATALANO AND ISN/RA RNEPHEW E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/01/2019 TAGS: PREL IR JO SUBJECT: JORDAN: DEMARCHE DELIVERED ON IRANIAN NUCLEAR PROGRAM REF: SECSTATE 120288 Classified By: Classified by CDA Lawrence Mandel for Reasons 1.4 (b) an d (d) ¶1. POLOFF delivered reftel points to Samer Naber, Director of the MFA's Americas Office. Naber inquired closely about the modalities of the abortive plan for LEU shipments from Iran to third countries for subsequent enrichment and the production of nuclear fuel. Naber also asked several questions about the enrichment facility discovered in Qom, whose existence was publicly revealed immediately prior to UNGA in September. He was particularly interested in the details of that facility (NOTE: This seemed unusual because we had previously discussed these same characteristics several weeks ago END NOTE). Despite this line of technical questioning, however, Naber was not particularly well-informed or knowledgeable about the Iranian program. ¶2. Naber reiterated GOJ's suspicions about Iran's program and went on to discuss Iran's "very negative" role in the immediate region and its support for extremist elements, pointing out its sponsorship of Hezbullah in particular. He conveyed the GOJ's concern that Iranian-backed extremist elements opposed to the peace process could use Jordanian soil as a launching pad for attacks against Israel. While expressing contempt for Iran's actual level of commitment to Palestinian rights, Naber went on to say that the Iranian nuclear issue and the Palestinian issue were linked and that Iran's hard line toward Israel strengthened Iran's own position in the eyes of regional actors. Naber repeated the GOJ's previously expressed position that a just peace, or even the adoption of a nuclear-free Middle East, would undermine Iran's justifications for its own nuclear program and dramatically weaken its standing in the region. Post will continue to monitor this issue and will report substantive developments septel. Mandel