READY TO PRESSURE SYRIA AT IAEA

C O N F I D E N T I A L CANBERRA 000138 SIPDIS NOFORN E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2020 TAGS: PARM PREL SY IAEA AS SUBJECT: READY TO PRESSURE SYRIA AT IAEA REF: SECSTATE 16530 Classified By: Pol/Econ Counselor Edgard D. Kagan for reasons 1.4(b)(d) ¶1. (C/NF) Australia's assessment of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General's report on Syria's nuclear program is "virtually identical" to that of the United States. Wendy Walsh of the Arms Control and Counter-Proliferation Branch at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told us that Australia plans to ask for an intervention on Syria and is totally behind any measures to keep the pressure on. The text of the intervention will be drafted by Australia's mission in Vienna, but Walsh said she will forward the non-paper so that the Australian language will match that in the reftel demarche. ¶2. (C/NF) Anne Craig, also of the Arms Control and Counter-Proliferation Branch at DFAT, thanked the United States for its role in keeping both Syria and North Korea on the IAEA agenda. BLEICH