EXPANDING THE CHORUS ON IRAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRUSSELS 001263 SIPDIS DEPT FOR ISN/RA, EUR/ERA, NEA/IR E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/18/2019 TAGS: KNNP MNUC PARM IAEA IR PREL AORC PTER EUN SUBJECT: EXPANDING THE CHORUS ON IRAN REF: STATE 95073 Classified By: USEU POLITICAL MINISTER COUNSELOR CHRISTOPHER DAVIS FOR REASON 1.4 (B,D) ¶1. (SBU) USEU Poloff met on 9/18 with EU Council Secretariat official Lene Lindholdt Hove to discuss EU efforts to broaden the chorus on Iran. Hove noted that EU member states' Foreign Ministers UNGA statements on Iran had been coordinated, the first time the EU had pre-coordinated its message on Iran for the UNGA. She provided no details beyond indicating that the EU talking points would be consonant with the U.S. approach. ¶2. (SBU) Hove said the EU approach to broadening support for EU messages on Iran focused on European countries that were closely associated with the EU due to candidacy for EU membership or participation in the Stabilization and Association process, European Free Trade Association, or European Economic Area. She explained that after EU consensus was reached on EU public declarations on Iran, the text was shared with those countries and they were invited to "align themselves" with the EU statement. In recent months Croatia, Albania, Macedonia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Moldova and Turkey associated themselves with a number of EU declarations on human rights in Iran. Turkey did not join the EU in its declaration expressign concern over the Iranian election aftermath, Hove specified, while the other EU candidates and associates did. ¶3. (C) In response to poloff's inquiry as to whether the EU would consider inviting any of the EU's Strategic Partners -- a group that includes the U.S., Russia, China and NAM leaders South Africa, Brazil and India -- to associate themselves with EU declarations or common positions on Iran, Hove responded that was unlikely as these countries might want to amend the EU text. The EU preferred to limit the effort to those countries where it possessed leverage. MURRAY .