GERMAN READOUT ON IRAN P5+1 TALKS: POSITIVE, BUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BERLIN 001235 NOFORN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/03/2019 TAGS: GM KNNP PGOV PREL IR SUBJECT: GERMAN READOUT ON IRAN P5+1 TALKS: POSITIVE, BUT AWAITING ACTIONS Classified By: Political M/C George Glass for reasons 1.4 b/d. ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. German MFA Political Director Stanzel gave a detailed readout of the P5 1 Iran meeting to the diplomatic corps and said he had been pleasantly surprised with the outcome of the October 1 talks. He stressed Germany's positive assessment of the Tehran Research Reactor agreement, but concluded with some words of caution, noting that the real success of the October 1 meeting could only be measured with concrete Iranian "actions" which have yet to follow. END SUMMARY. The Meeting and the Results -------------- ¶2. (C) Stanzel gave a detailed readout of the October 1 P5 1 talks to the diplomatic corps on October 2. He told the group he had gone into the meeting with great skepticism. He said the revelation of the secret enrichment facility in Qom had confirmed doubts about Iran's intentions for the German government. He said there was "no reason" to keep the facility hidden unless it was connected to a nuclear weapons program. ¶3. (C) Stanzel said the first half of the meeting showed no signs of progress. Dr. Jalili, the Head of the Iranian Delegation, spoke at great length about "saving the world" and by the time lunch was ready the P5 1 had hardly had time to make one point. He said the P5 1 had stressed the necessity of starting off where the group had last left the discussions over 15 months ago, especially given the urgency of presented by the revelation of the new site near Qom. Stanzel said the Iranian delegation made a pivotal phone call before lunch and that the real talks began after the phone call. ¶4. (C) Stanzel neted that after lunch the serious exchanges began resulting in an agreement. He outlined the three parts of the agreement as follows: (1) there will be a second meeting between Iran and the P5 1 before the end of October to discuss the nuclear issue and whatever other issues the parties may wish to discuss; (2) Iran will clarify remaining questions regarding the secret enrichment site at Qom; and (3) Iran agreed to transfer 1200-1300 kilograms of Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) to Russia for enrichment and then to France for eventual use in the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR). He explained that the TRR had originally been built by the U.S. for production of medical isotopes, that it required uranium enriched to 19.5 percent, and that Iran was about to run out of its supply. ¶5. (C) Stanzel went to great lengths to explain why the Tehran Research Reactor agreement is a "better" confidence-building measure than the &freeze-for-freeze8 plan. He explained that by taking 1200)1300 kilograms of Iran,s 1500 kilograms of LEU outside of the country for reprocessing, the result is much more significant than simply halting the introduction of new centrifuges. He said this confidence-building measure and Iran,s agreement to make it public were the necessary "temporary confidence building measures" for starting the next "pre-negotiation" phase of talks, during which items for further discussion would be finalized. Words of Caution -------------- ¶6. (C) Stanzel speculated that one more meeting would not be enough. There will hopefully be a series of meetings, possibly also on the "experts" level. He concluded by warning that while he saw yesterday's meeting as successful, everything remained "on paper" and what really counted will be "actions." He noted that there were certainly some hard-liners in Iran who weren't pleased with yesterday's deal and only time will tell who gets the upper hand in Teheran. He said the next P5 1 meeting with Iran was planned for October 20 in Geneva. German Comment on UK/French Resistance to the Deal -------------- -------------- ¶7. (C/NF) After the briefing, MFA Non-Proliferation Deputy elaborated privately to PolOff on the German position and pointed out that while the French and British had been disappointed to see the U.S. move away from &freeze-for-freeze8 ) the Germans recognize that what we got was actually much better and wholly support it. He said that while it might not follow the "letter" of the UNSCRs, it follows their "spirit." BERLIN 00001235 002 OF 002 Murphy