UAE ON IRAN SANCTIONS, ENGAGEMENT WITH CHINA

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 000085 SIPDIS FOR NEA/ARP AND NEA/IR E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/18 TAGS: PREL PARM UNSC ETTC IR CH AE SUBJECT: UAE ON IRAN SANCTIONS, ENGAGEMENT WITH CHINA REF: STATE 9124; ABU DHABI 73 CLASSIFIED BY: Richard Olson, Ambassador; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (C) In a joint meeting with British ChargC) d'Affaires Ian Wood on February 14 at the MFA, Ambassador discussed Ref A demarche points with Assistant Minister for Political Affairs Tariq Al Haidan. Haidan considered Iran's February 11 announcement on uranium enrichment a turning point in the sanctions debate and stated the path for the UN Security Council was "very clear now." Haidan said some UNSC members, including China, have shown no rush to impose tighter sanctions but recent events should cause them to reevaluate. ¶2. (C) Haidan requested the meeting to discuss Yemen (septel),and Wood used the opportunity to deliver his government's demarche on Iran sanctions. Ambassador reinforced US points previously conveyed to Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash (Ref B). Haidan questioned China's willingness to cooperate in light of the recently-announced U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. Ambassador noted gaining Chinese support for new Iran sanctions was particularly challenging but cautioned that press reports are not an accurate assessment of the US-China bilateral relationship. ¶3. (C) Haidan predicted China would eventually go along with UNSC sanctions and said he would call the Chinese Ambassador to take his temperature. The UAEG previously discussed Iran sanctions with the Chinese and noted their concerns of potentially negative impacts on Iran-China economic agreements, particularly relating to oil and gas. OLSON