IAEA BOG: SWISS VIEWS REGARDING IRAN, SYRIA, AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L BERN 000505

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR ISN/NESS (M.HUMPHREY),ISN/RA
(R.NEPHEW/J.DANIELS),EUR/CE (Y.SAINT-ANDRE),AND NEA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/24/2019
TAGS: PARM IAEA KNNP SY IR SZ
SUBJECT: IAEA BOG: SWISS VIEWS REGARDING IRAN, SYRIA, AND
THE ANGARSK RESERVE CONCEPT

REF: A. STATE 119161

B. STATE 120288

C. STATE 102282

D. STATE 117710

Classified By: POLE Counselor Richard A. Rorvig; reasons 1.4(b) and (d)
.


1. (C) Summary: Poloff discussed messages in reftels on
November 24 with Andreas Friedrich, Head of the Arms Control
and Disarmament Section of the Federal Department for Foreign
Affairs (FDFA),and with Jean-Daniel Praz, Friedrich's deputy
and FDFA point-of-contact for IAEA issues. Friedrich and
Praz said they expect that Switzerland will deliver
statements on Iran and Syria at the November 26-27 IAEA Board
of Governors meeting. They indicated that the statements
would be along the lines of past Swiss BoG pronouncements,
calling on Iran and Syria to meet their international
obligations. Friedrich said that the GoS supports the
Angarsk Reserve (nuclear fuel bank) concept in substance, but
was concerned that the Russian approach to obtaining a BoG
resolution in the matter was "unnecessarily divisive." End
Summary.

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IRAN
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2. (C) Friedrich and Praz generally shared USG concerns in
the wake of the latest IAEA report on Iran. They said they
expected that Switzerland will make a statement at the
upcoming IAEA BoG, along the lines of past such Swiss
statements, calling on Iran to cooperate with the IAEA and to
meet its international obligations. Praz said that it
appeared that the nuclear issue was now fully tied up in
domestic Iranian politicis, with former "moderates" like
Majlis Speaker Laranjani sounding like "hardliners" in an
effort to prevent Ahmedinejad from chalking up a diplomatic
breakthrough with Western countries. Friedrich asked whether
the USG or P5-plus-1 planned a resolution on Iran at the
upcoming BoG. He commented that, if so, time was getting
short for BoG member countries to evaluate a draft text.
Poloff undertook to check to see whether a resolution was
being contemplated.

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SYRIA
--------------


3. (C) Friedrich and Praz generally shared USG concerns in
the wake of the latest IAEA report on Syria. They said they
expected that Switzerland will make a statement at the
upcoming IAEA BoG, along the lines of past such Swiss
statements, calling on Syria to cooperate with the IAEA and
to meet its international obligations. Praz asked whether
the USG was contemplating a "Special Inspection" request on
Syria, remarking that he had heard some corridor rumblings
about such a possibility on the margins of the last BoG, but
was not sure how much stock to put in such rumors.

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ANGARSK RESERVE CONCEPT
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4. (SBU) Friedrich underlined that the Swiss generally
support the proposal in substance, but are concerned with the
approach the Russians have taken in pressing ahead for BoG
approval. He said that it is "unfortunate" and
"unnecessarily divisive" that the resolution is being pushed
forward before some technical questions posed by Switzerland
and a number of other countries could be answered. Friedrich
was non-committal as to whether Switzerland ultimately will
agree to co-sponsor the resolution onthe Angarsk Reserve
concept.
BEYER