UGANDA: PRESIDENT MUSEVENI GOES TO IRAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L KAMPALA 000492


E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/14/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV IR UG
SUBJECT: UGANDA: PRESIDENT MUSEVENI GOES TO IRAN

Classified By: Economic Officer Dan Langenkamp for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).


1. (C) Summary: The Government of Uganda has confirmed that
President Yoweri Museveni will visit Iran May 16-18. Foreign
Affairs Permanent Secretary James Mugume said in a briefing
with U.S. Mission staff that the trip had been delayed
several times over the last two years and that its timing has
nothing to do with any perceived shift in U.S. policy towards
Iran. The visit has a strategic focus, said Mugume, and is
part of Ugandan efforts to cultivate and balance
relationships with a wide array of countries, including those
in the Arab world. Uganda, he insisted, shares U.S. concerns
about Iran,s nuclear program and support for extremism, and
will use the visit to try to persuade Iran to join the
international consensus on issues like supporting the
transitional government in Somalia. The visit does not
appear to indicate a shift in Uganda,s foreign policy.
Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa is tentatively planning a visit
to Washington in July. End Summary.

--------------
Timing: No Link to New U.S. Administration
--------------


2. (SBU) The Charge d,Affaires (CDA),the Defense Attache,
and Economic Officer met May 13 with Ugandan Ministry of
Foreign Affairs (MFA) Permanent Secretary (PS) James Mugume
at the latter,s request. Mugume called the meeting to
officially inform the USG that Ugandan President Yoweri
Museveni will visit Tehran beginning May 16.


3. (SBU) Mugume emphasized that the timing of the trip had
nothing to do with recent offers by the new U.S.
administration to engage in direct talks with Iran. He said
that the visit had been in the works for about two years.
After having been postponed several times, the date was
finally fixed when Museveni met with Iranian Foreign Minister
Manouchehr Muttaki earlier this year at the African Union
summit. Though "everyone is putting out the olive branch" to
Iran, he stated, the trip was not timed to coincide with any
perceived policy change in the United States. Two Iranian
Presidents have visited Uganda in the past, he noted, while
Museveni until now had never visited Tehran.

--------------
Strategic Interests, Commercial Ties
--------------


4. (C) Mugume emphasized the strategic purpose of Museveni,s
visit to Tehran. Uganda maintains relations with the Arab
world, he said, and wants to ensure that these are balanced
by continued relations with Iran. Mugume said that Uganda
wants to maintain its credibility with a diverse set of
actors as a non-permanent UN Security Council member, a
member of the African Union, and as the current chair of the
Organization of the Islamic Conference. Uganda shares U.S.
concerns about Iran's development of nuclear weapons and its
support for international terrorist groups such as al
Shabaab, he said, particularly given Uganda,s lead role in
international peacekeeping efforts in Somalia, where al
Shabaab is active. A key goal of the visit to Tehran, he
said, was to press Iran to join the international consensus
in supporting the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia.


5. (C) Mugume insisted the visit was purely bilateral and
unrelated to Uganda,s position as a UN Security Council
member. He said that the Ugandan delegation would make no
agreements if Tehran presses it to remove or soften the UN
sanctions against Iran stemming from its nuclear program. He
also said security cooperation would not be on the agenda.
(Note: We understand Uganda's Inspector General of Police
recently visited Iran. The visit was discreet and little is
known about what may have resulted from it. End note).


6. (SBU) Mugume said that Uganda also has commercial
interests at stake, and will explore Iranian assistance and
participation in the development of Uganda,s fledgling oil
and gas industry. (Note: Uganda, which has discovered
sizeable oil reserves in the Albertine Rift valley, will
begin producing oil in 2011. It has a large need for
investment in oil-related infrastructure, particularly in a
new pipeline, oil refinery or both and may be gauging
interest in the Iranians in investment. Uganda is also
reaching out to established oil producers to provide
assistance building the capacity of government regulators for
the oil industry. End note). The two countries would also
discuss a tractor production project, as well as other
agricultural modernization issues. He noted the Ministers of
Energy, Finance and Trade would also participate in the
visit.

-------------- --------------
Charge: U.S. Policy Not Changed, Visit Not Helpful
-------------- --------------


7. (C) The CDA told Mugume that U.S. policy toward Iran has
not changed, particularly given the regime's continued
defiance of UN Security Council resolutions on its nuclear
program, its hostility towards Israel, and its support for
extremism in Afghanistan and elsewhere. The CDA noted that
the U.S. appreciated being informed of the visit, but stated
that it could undermine the bilateral U.S.-Ugandan
partnership by raising questions and concerns amongst U.S.
policymakers and in the U.S. Congress about Uganda's
intentions. Mugume did not dispute any of these points, and
said Uganda shares the same concerns about Iran,s nuclear
program and its support for extremism. Mugume said the visit
could be helpful because it gives Uganda an opportunity to
counsel Tehran to moderate its behavior. "We have to engage
these guys," Mugume said.


8. (SBU) Throughout the meeting, Mugume downplayed the
significance of the visit and consistently tried to highlight
the benefits that engaging Tehran could bring to its efforts
to help stabilize Somalia. By way of conclusion, and in
order to emphasize Uganda's high regard for the United
States, he noted that Foreign Minister Samuel Kutesa is
tentatively planning a visit to Washington in July.

--------------
Comment
--------------


9. (C) We do not believe the Museveni visit to Iran, while
irritating, is a significant shift in the direction of
Uganda,s foreign policy. The visit is another example of
President Museveni trying to punch above Uganda,s weight by
playing the role of senior statesman. What he and his MFA
fail to fully understand, however, is that in trying to
juggle such a wide and diverse array of bilateral
relationships, and particularly when it beds down with a
regime like Iran,s and can,t produce results that benefit
the international community, Uganda risks sullying its own
reputation.


HOOVER