GERMANY READY TO RAMP-UP SANCTIONS DISCUSSIONS;

S E C R E T BERLIN 001598 NOFORN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/19/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL KNNP IR GM SUBJECT: GERMANY READY TO RAMP-UP SANCTIONS DISCUSSIONS; SLIGHTED ON IRAN INTEL SHARING Classified By: Political M/C George Glass for reasons 1.4 b/d ¶1. (S/NF) Summary. German MFA Iran Task Force Director Andreas Krueger told poloffs December 16 that Germany is ready to engage on discussions of the "pressure" track on Iran as soon as possible. He noted Germany hoped to start EU discussions on the topic at the same time as UNSC discussions. He expressed some concern that China might try to push talks in the UNSC until February to avoid having to chair the discussions during their January 2010 UNSC Presidency. Krueger expressed concern that Germany wasn't included in intelligence sharing on the Iran proliferation dossier, and requested that we do so in the future. The MFA also requested a formal debriefing on the new Iran NIE which they heard was due to come out in early 2010. End Summary. -------------- -------------- German Strategy for Timing of the Pressure Track on Iran -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) Krueger clarified the German strategy for the timing of UNSC and EU sanctions discussions. He said Germany would like to see EU Iran sanctions talks begin exactly when UNSC talks begin. He said starting earlier would be fruitless; there would be no way to motivate other members who would want to wait to see what the UNSC would be doing. By starting the process at the same time he said they envision a parallel process in which the EU focuses its energy on those items/issues which the UNSC would not be able to tackle because of Russian/Chinese resistance. He said Germany would like to see UNSC discussions start as soon as possible in January so that EU talks can also begin. He raised some private concerns regarding the Chinese thinking on timing. He said he wondered if the Chinese would try to delay any discussion within the UNSC for February so as not to have to have the discussion while they are UNSC President in January. On China in general he raised some concern as to whether Chinese fear of isolation on the issue would be enough to overcome domestic interests. -------------- -------------- German Concerns about Being Left Out on Iran Intel Sharing -------------- -------------- ¶3. (S/NF) Krueger noted the information made public by the Times of London article on Iranian neutron generation indicated that the U.S., U.K. and France had been in possession of this evidence for a while. He noted that according to his knowledge that information was never shared with any part of the German government and said there were some in his government who felt slighted. He stressed that Germany wanted to be a strong partner on Iran and understood the need to pursue the "pressure" track if engagement failed. However, he said Germany needed to be included in discussions of information concerning Iranian proliferation activities since it will help them make their case as well. Most of all he said it would be useful if one could avoid "surprising" the German government and said some notification prior to the press report would have been helpful. -------------- -------------- Request from Germany for Consultation on New NIE on Iran -------------- -------------- ¶4. (S/NF) MFA Deputy Office Director for Non-Proliferation, Hans-Peter Hinrichsen, told poloffs that he had heard the U.S. would be releasing a new NIE on Iran in early 2010. He said the MFA would appreciate a debriefing on the report as soon as possible. MURPHY