JORDAN SIGNS NUCLEAR COOPERATION AGREEMENT WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 000221 SIPDIS STATE FOR T, NEA/ELA, ISN/NESS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/24/2020 TAGS: ENRG EMIN TRGY KNNP PARM PREL JO SUBJECT: JORDAN SIGNS NUCLEAR COOPERATION AGREEMENT WITH SPAIN REF: A. 09 AMMAN 2769 ¶B. 09 AMMAN 2580 ¶C. 09 AMMAN 2498 ¶D. 09 AMMAN 2290 ¶E. 09 AMMAN 1690 Classified By: Ambassador R. Stephen Beecroft for reasons 1.4 (b) and ( d) ¶1. (U) Jordan signed a nuclear cooperation agreement (NCA) with Spain on January 20, Jordan's eighth such agreement. Jordan has signed NCAs with Argentina, Canada, China, France, Russia, South Korea and the UK. The agreement was signed by the Chairman of the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) Khaled Toukan during the visit to Jordan of Spain's Secretary of State for Trade Sylvia Iranzo Gutierrez. ¶2. (C) The signing was expected and JAEC's Vice Chairman and Commissioner for International Cooperation, Kamal Araj, told EconOff that the agreement with Spain was a general accord that would enhance Jordan's basic cooperation with Spanish firms that might be interested in bidding on future contracts and with Spain's regulatory agencies. He did not anticipate that any significant new cooperative arrangement would result from the signing. ¶3. (C) Comment: JAEC's signing of an NCA with Spain is yet another example of JAEC collecting bilateral nuclear cooperation agreements, which Toukan, and not the GOJ, hopes will help insulate Jordan from the assurances sought by the U.S. for concluding a 1-2-3 Agreement. Notwithstanding the December 30 interim response from Toukan to Under Secretary Tauscher, Post continues to press the GOJ for a substantive response per ref A. End comment. Beecroft