IAEA/EGYPT/GC: TIME RUNNING OUT ON GC PRESIDENT'S

C O N F I D E N T I A L UNVIE VIENNA 000413

SIPDIS

STATE FOR D(S),P, T, S/SANAC, S/SEMEP, IO, ISN, NEA
DOE FOR S1, OIP, NA-20
NSC FOR SAMORE, SCHEINMAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/31/2014
TAGS: PREL AORC PARM KNNP XF IAEA IR
SUBJECT: IAEA/EGYPT/GC: TIME RUNNING OUT ON GC PRESIDENT'S
EFFORT TO FORGE NEW CONSENSUS ON MIDDLE EAST RESOLUTIONS

REF: A. UNVIE 402

B. 8/31 PYATT-ANDERSON TELCON

Classified By: Ambassador Glyn Davies for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d)


1. (SBU) During an introductory call on Egyptian Ambassador
Fawzi on August 31, Fawzi told Ambassador Davies that Egypt
will circulate the text of its annual Middle East Safeguards
(MES) resolution "when Cairo is ready," and indicated he
thought that could be as early as "this time next week."
This is a departure from what we had heard earlier per reftel
that Egypt would give the GC President (Ambassador Macmillan,
New Zealand) until the first day of the GC to pursue a new
resolution that might command consensus and lead to setting
aside of the Arab League's additional "Israeli Nuclear
Threat" (INC) resolution. Fawzi told the Ambassador that
Egypt believed it was the GC President's "right" to pursue
efforts at a new consensus, but that he understood the Arab
Group had rejected any attempt to combine elements of the MES
and INC resolutions. Fawzi reiterated that he had no
negotiating mandate on the MES resolution, Cairo was calling
the shots.


2. (SBU) Amb. Davies began the meeting by noting that he had
chosen Egypt as his first bilateral call in order to
underline the U.S. Administration desire to rebuild trust
with Egypt and NAM (Egypt is current NAM chair). The pending
GC is an opportunity to change destructive habits that have
led to recent GC outcomes on the Middle East issues that
serve no one. Noting the Aug. 28 IAEA Director General's
report on Iran, Ambassador underlined the priority President
Obama places on addressing nuclear proliferation and arms
control issues and noted that the "gravitational pull" of the
Iran nuclear issue runs counter to these efforts. Fawzi
responded with appreciation for the visit and expressed
gratitude for the President's efforts. He said expectations
are extremely high in light of those efforts and it will be
important for the U.S. to take concrete steps showing a new
approach. On Iran, he said Egypt and the U.S. were "not far
apart" in regard to their concerns about the Iran nuclear
issue, and opined th
at Iran is very happy when there are disagreements between
the U.S., Egypt, and others in regard to such issues as the
MES resolution at the GC. This gives Iran opportunity he
said, and Iran's suggested agenda item for the GC on military
attacks against nuclear facilities is a good example.


3. (C) Comment and Action Request: The window of opportunity
may be closing sooner than expected on the GC President's
effort before it becomes entangled with an Egyptian intent to
ensnare the EU in a separate track of negotiations on its MES
resolution, while attempting to delink from the fate of the
INC. Per Ref B, Mission understands there are a variety of
contacts underway with Egypt regarding pending multilateral
meetings (e.g., G20). Mission recommends stressing via all
contacts with Egypt the U.S. strong desire to find a new
consensus-based approach to the IAEA GC. We should our firm
belief that a good faith effort on both sides would lead to
consensus, while a virtual replay of last year's GC will lead
to the same unsatisfactory outcome.
DAVIES