Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09USUNNEWYORK470
2009-05-07 15:51:00
CONFIDENTIAL
USUN New York
Cable title:  

SUBJECT: A/S GOTTEMOELLER,S 5 MAY BILATERAL

Tags:  KNNP PARM NPT 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000470 

SIPDIS

GENEVA FOR CD DEL, UNVIE FOR IAEA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/07/2019
TAGS: KNNP PARM NPT
SUBJECT: SUBJECT: A/S GOTTEMOELLER,S 5 MAY BILATERAL
MEETINGS ON THE MARGINS OF THE NPT PREPARATORY COMMITTEE

Classified By: ISN/MNSA - M. RAGSDALE

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000470

SIPDIS

GENEVA FOR CD DEL, UNVIE FOR IAEA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/07/2019
TAGS: KNNP PARM NPT
SUBJECT: SUBJECT: A/S GOTTEMOELLER,S 5 MAY BILATERAL
MEETINGS ON THE MARGINS OF THE NPT PREPARATORY COMMITTEE

Classified By: ISN/MNSA - M. RAGSDALE


1. (SBU) Summary: Assistant Secretary of State for
Verification, Compliance and Implementation, Rose
Gottemoeller, held several bilateral meetings May 5 on the
margins of the NPT Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) in New
York. This cable reports on her meetings with: South
Africa,s Ambassador Abdul Minty, the Chairman of the NPT
Preparatory Committee, Zimbabwe,s Ambassador Boniface
Chidyausiku, Germany,s Ambassador Peter Gottwald, and UN
High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Sergio Duarte.

(SBU) Meeting with South Africa,s Ambassador Abdul Minty

2. (C) Minty began the meeting by saying President Obama,s
Prague speech had been very well received. He said South
Africa would take a moderate tone at the PrepCom and had
encouraged members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to take
similarly moderate approaches to the meeting, noting states
could not expect immediate delivery on US initiatives
described in the Prague speech. However, he said more
engagement with the US would be needed before the 2010 NPT
Review Conference (RevCon) when the US is ready to discuss in
more detail its goals for the RevCon; Minty did not say when
this should happen, but he ruled-out the convocation of a
fourth PrepCom. Minty said that South Africa and the NAM
generally would try to "keep the temperature down," at this
year,s PrepCom, but said Iran could be a problem and Egypt
was always difficult. He said Egypt would feel a need to
posture on the 1995 Resolution on the Middle East, but its
particular approach was unpredictable. Finally, he said it
was unclear what the future of the New Agenda Coalition would
be.

3. (C) Ambassador Minty spoke generally about the future of
the NAM and how it makes policy. He said the next NAM troika


would be composed of Cuba as the outgoing chair, Egypt as the
incoming chair, and Iran as the future chair. He worried
openly about the potential for this troika to advocate
particularly hardline policies. At NAM policy meetings
sometimes only a dozen countries bother to attend, and the
rest of the group then adopts the decisions made by the few
attendees. There are no rules about minimum participation at

policy planning meetings. He said that India has been
helpful in tempering hardline NAM policies in Vienna, but it
is not party to the NPT so it does not engage as vigorously
on NPT issues. He also made particular note of the
inactivity of Latin American countries in nuclear-related NAM
policy planning, saying that such countries, while more
moderate as a whole, because of their inactivity were not
well able to influence NAM policy on such issues. Assistant
Secretary Gottemoeller said that a US strategic goal of this
year,s PrepCom and next year,s RevCon was to develop better
working relationships with the NAM. She said the US opening
statement at the PrepCom should be a good start to this end
and she expressed pleasure that Minty thought the
President,s Prague speech had created positive energy, and
said the United States also wants to make clear that it is
operating in good faith. She said those US senators that
previously had voted against ratification of the CTBT may be
convinced that ratification of the Treaty at this time was in
the interest of the United States.

4. (C) Ambassador Minty then addressed diplomatic efforts
related to the Iranian nuclear program. He indicated the
Iranian Foreign Ministry has almost no control over the
issue, and that the only way to shift the Iranian Government,
in particular on the issue of suspension, was to frame it in
a different light. He said the substance of overtures to
Iran on suspension would not have to be different, but it
must be presented directly to the Supreme Leader and framed


in a way that presented Tehran with specific offers in return
for suspension. He said the group surrounding the Supreme
Leader contains a former Foreign Minister who is reasonable,
but who is constrained by the mullahs, and that the people
now working the nuclear issue in Tehran generally don,t
understand the freeze-for-freeze proposal. Minty thought
vague offers of improved relations or technical cooperation
would not work; specific action for action or item for item
was required. He also suggested framing suspension as a
humanitarian or safety concern, suggesting that Iran might be
able to save face by claiming that suspension was not the
result of nonproliferation concerns, but of concern about the
safety of facility operators and nearby populations. Minty
said getting Iran to agree to the Additional Protocol would
take a lot of work, but in the meantime Tehran could be
encouraged to act as though it were subject to such
provisions. He thought it essential that the IAEA be allowed
to conduct inquiries into weaponization work, noting that the
Agency carried-out such work in South Africa. Iran had
nearly succeeded in convincing the broader NAM membership
that the Agency should not have the authority to conduct
weaponization investigations, but according to Minty, South
Africa prevented the adoption of such a policy by the group.
In Vienna, he said South Africa has been trying to establish
an informal group of moderate NAM members, including the
Philippines, to oppose the hardline policies of Iran, and the
potentially hardline policies resulting from the new NAM
troika; however, South Africa was having some trouble
constructing such a group. He said there was not much anyone
could do about the new NAM troika, but suggested working with
individual countries to counter hardline NAM policies.

5. (C) Ambassador Minty briefly discussed his candidacy for
the position of Director General of the IAEA. He said he
originally was encouraged to run for the position by a few


countries outside of Africa, because those countries view
South Africa as able to bridge gaps between the many divisive
issues that arise in the IAEA. He said the Board of
Governors were sharply polarized during the first vote, with
the West voting for Ambassador Amano from Japan and the rest
voting for himself. Minty was disappointed by this
polarization, because he views himself as someone who
repeatedly has broken rigid, regional policy positions for
the sake of global progress. He thinks the media,s
characterization of him as the &developing world,s
candidate8 is unfair. He reported that Slovenia,s
candidate for the position may not proceed, and offered to
travel to Washington for consultations if the United States
happened to re-evaluate its position on the Director General
race. A/S Gottemoeller did not respond substantively.

6. (C) Finally, Ambassador Minty noted that the United States
and South Africa used to hold annual meetings to discuss
nonproliferation and other nuclear-related issues, and
suggested the resumption of such meetings. A/S Gottemoeller
said it sounded like a good idea and would report the
proposal back to Washington. Minty addressed the great
importance South Africa places on thwarting illicit nuclear
networks and the A.Q. Khan network in particular. He said
since 9/11 many norms and national laws have changed related
to terrorism and urged a similar emphasis be placed on
controlling WMD, noting that Security Council Resolution 1540
did not do enough to address illicit networks. He
recommended giving the IAEA some kind of authority to vouch
for the intended end use of particular equipment or
technology during prosecutions related to nuclear-related
smuggling and networks. Such authority would prevent the
disclosure of proliferation-sensitive information during the
course of prosecutions.
(SBU) Meeting with the Chairman of the NPT Preparatory


Committee, Zimbabwe,s Ambassador Boniface Chidyausiku

7. (SBU) Assistant Secretary Gottemoeller held a very brief
meeting with PrepCom Chairman Chidyausiku. On the issue of
potential French objections to the agenda for the 2010
RevCon, the Chairman said the French delegation was
contacting Paris, and Chidyausiku believed France would be
able to agree to his proposed agenda. He said the United
Kingdom also thought France eventually would agree to the
agenda. Russia reportedly believed France was jealous of the
US-Russian relationship and was just looking for attention.
Chidyausiku said he would circulate elements of
recommendations for the 2010 RevCon on Thursday (05/07) for
delegations to consider over the weekend.
(SBU) Meeting with Germany,s Ambassador Peter Gottwald

8. (C) A/S Gottemoeller reassured Gottwald that the French
delegation would shortly be instructed to join consensus on
the RevCon agenda. Gottwald described a forthcoming EU paper
supporting the FMCT, noting he still has to work out a few
issues with the French. France supports the Algerian
proposed program of work for the CD, and hoped the US also
would. He is very enthusiastic about the Pakistani support
for the proposal, emphasizing what an opportunity this is.
He is meeting with his Israeli counterpart soon, and will ask
their views on the Algerian mandate and moving forward. He
also probed whether the US would reject any linkage to
negotiations on PAROS, noting the Chinese are hoping for some
US movement on this. Gottwald is also interested in a
broader fissile material initiative (FMCI) but noted the
French and Brits are not enthusiastic. Gottwald also pressed
A/S Gottemoeller on CFE, and she demurred noting her incoming
counterpart at State/EUR would have a significant role in
this issue. Gottwald said he would like to have German-US
meetings in Berlin on the margins of an upcoming High Level
Task Force CFE meeting.


(SBU) Meeting with Sergio Duarte, UN High Representative for
Disarmament Affairs

9. (SBU) A/S Gottemoeller expressed interest in his views on
atmosphere and progress in the NPT and also on prospects for
the CD. Duarte thinks the NPT atmosphere is much improved,
due in large part to statements from USG officials. He
thinks the &all parties have rights and responsibilities8
theme resonates. He also believes parties are positive on
the FMCT and would support the Algerian proposed program of
work. UN SYG Ban ki-Moon plans to attend the opening of the
next CD session in May to support the recent momentum toward
consensus. He also noted US statements on CTBT as
contributing to improved international progress on these
issues. He mentioned meeting Gary Samore in Washington and
thinks the Administration is correct to be &realistically
optimistic8 on CTBT ratification. He urged the US to do
something on the Middle East Resolution to bring the
Egyptians along. A/S Gottemoeller agreed to keep in touch
with him as the Review Cycle progresses.

10. (U) A/S Gottemoeller has cleared this cable.
Rice