GREECE: PRESSURING IRAN ON HUMAN RIGHTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ATHENS 000087 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE, NEA/IR, DRL, P E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/09 TAGS: PREL PHUM IR GR SUBJECT: GREECE: PRESSURING IRAN ON HUMAN RIGHTS REF: STATE 12108 CLASSIFIED BY: Daniel V. Speckhard, Ambassador; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (C) Ambassador Speckhard discussed reftel points with the Prime Minister's Diplomatic Advisor Dimitris Paraskevopoulos February 8, on the eve of the PM's February 9 trip to Paris. The Ambassador urged Greece to join voices with the United States, the EU, and the international community to let Iran know clearly and publicly that its behavior is unacceptable. Drawing on the often repeated offer of having Greece be an interlocutor with Iran given the PM's Presidency of the Socialist International, the Ambassador suggested that a strong public message from Greece could be particularly useful. He also highlighted the absurdity of Iran's candidacy for the UN Human Rights Council, and hoped that Greece agreed. ¶2. (C) Paraskevopoulos was non-committal on a public statement, but took the message on board. He said he expected Iran to come up during PM Papandreou's February 9 with French President Sarkozy, noting he was aware of the French position and U.S.-French cooperation on the Iran dossier. He agreed that an Iranian seat on the UN HRC would not be appropriate, and shared the human rights concerns. ¶3. (C) Paraskevopoulos asked why the official U.S. reaction to Ahmedinejad's recent "offer" to send uranium abroad for enrichment had been cautious, in his view. Ambassador Speckhard stressed that the international community needed to see substance, not statements from Iran, and that Iran's behavior since the October meeting of the P5+1 in Geneva raised questions about Iran's seriousness. Iran should file its official response at the IAEA if they were serious. Speckhard