Vietnam's Reaction to P5+1 Discussions in Geneva

C O N F I D E N T I A L HANOI 000863 SENSITIVE SIPDIS FOR P (MULL) E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/10/08 TAGS: PARM PREL KNNP MNUC IR VM SUBJECT: Vietnam's Reaction to P5+1 Discussions in Geneva REF: STATE 103218 CLASSIFIED BY: Virginia Palmer, DCM; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) (C) On October 7, Acting PolCouns met with Nguyen Quynh Phuong from the MFA's Department of West Asia and African Affairs, to discuss the October 1 P5+1 discussions with Iran and to urge Vietnam to support efforts to ensure that Iran complies with the commitments it made in Geneva. APol/C stressed, per reftel, that while these discussions were a productive beginning, the international community must work together to press Iran to comply with its international obligations. Phuong said that Vietnam welcomed Iran's decision to allow IAEA inspections at Qom, to initiate technical discussions on fuel transfers from the Tehran Research Reactor, and to continue P5+1 discussions. These were useful first steps, she said, which her government hoped would lead to "concrete actions." Phuong reiterated that Vietnam supported Iran's right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy pursuant to the NPT and opposed Iran obtaining nuclear weapons, had urged Iran to cooperate with the IAEA, and was committed to a peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue. APol/C that the United States shared these goals as a matter of general principle, but emphasized that Iran's past behavior argued for skepticism. As a member of the UN Security Council, Vietnam, he said, bore a particular responsibility to support the international community's efforts to ensure that Iran did not develop a nuclear weapons capability and lived up to its NPT, UNSC, and IAEA obligations. Palmer