DEMARCHE DELIVERED: PRC STRESSES ROLE OF IAEA,

C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIJING 002787 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/28/2029 TAGS: PREL KNNP MNUC PARM CH IR SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED: PRC STRESSES ROLE OF IAEA, IMPORTANCE OF OCTOBER 1 TALKS REF: STATE 100153 Classified By: POL External Unit Chief Eric Barboriak. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) China hopes the IAEA will investigate reports of Iran's covert uranium enrichment facility near Qom according to its mandate, according to MFA Department of Arms Control and Disarmament Nuclear Division Deputy Director Shen Jian. In response to reftel points on the Qom facility, Shen stressed to PolOff September 28 that the IAEA should play a major role in dealing with the issue given its technical expertise and authoritative status. He noted that Iran said it would agree to IAEA inspections of the facility. China did not have additional information on the site beyond what the U.S. already had, he said. Shen said China was pushing Iran for increased cooperation with the IAEA and took note of recent positive gestures from Tehran on the issue, as well as the positive aspects of the Iranian counterproposal to the P5-plus-1, adding that it was important for the international community to acknowledge such measures to create an atmosphere for negotiations with Iran. ¶2. (C) Shen said that Chinese officials were interested in what steps Iran could take to satisfy U.S. concerns about the Qom facility, adding that it appeared that the United States and other P5-plus-1 countries might not be wholly satisfied by any measures Iran took to show cooperation. ¶3. (C) China was continuing to work with the Iranians to urge their cooperation through various channels, Shen reported. He said that the PRC Ambassador to Iran had stressed to the regime that the upcoming October 1 negotiations represented an important opportunity for progress that Iran should seize, and that similar messages had been passed to Iran through Beijing and the PRC UN Mission in New York. Shen cautioned that the upcoming talks with the Iranians would be challenging and might not produce immediate results on all of the international community's concerns, adding that it was very unlikely that a full picture of the Qom facility would emerge after a single meeting. HUNTSMAN