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