SPANISH MFA ON GLOBAL INITIATIVE TO COMBAT NUCLEAR

C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 000125 SIPDIS FOR EUR/RPM, ALSO FOR ISN/WMDT, L/PM, NEA/IR, AND ISN/RA E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2020 TAGS: PARM PREL IR SP SUBJECT: SPANISH MFA ON GLOBAL INITIATIVE TO COMBAT NUCLEAR TERRORISM, CCW PROTOCOL III, AND IRAN REF: A. 09 MADRID 1018 ¶B. 09 MADRID 1138 ¶C. BERLIN 135 ¶D. MADRID 119 Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Arnold A. Chacon, Reasons 1.4(b) ,(d). ¶1. (C) Spanish MFA Sub-DG for Non-proliferation and ARMS Control Gonzalo de Salazar requested a meeting with Polcouns February 2 to discuss the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT),the USG deposit of instruments of ratification of Protocol III (incendiary weapons) of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW),and Iran sanctions. On the GICNT, de Salazar said Spain and some other EU member states were concerned that moving to a rotating presidency, which he understood to the be plan, might entail a loss of U.S. leadership, which he described as very important, a loss of momentum for the GICNT. He said Spain looked forward to discussing at the next plenary in June how to maintain leadership and momentum in the initiative. ¶2. (C) Regarding the CCW, de Salazar referred to the U.S. reservations to Protocol III. He said Spain and several other EU countries -- he named Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Poland, the Netherlands, and the UK -- saw the U.S. reservations as incompatible with the protocol. He said that for legal reasons, Spain and others would formally object to the U.S. reservations. He said this would happen in the next few days. He stressed that Spain's action was driven by legal reasons and was not meant to be an unfriendly gesture. ¶3. (C) De Salazar noted efforts towards a new UNSCR on Iran, and said Spain hoped the Russians and Chinese could be brought along, as Spain's first preference was for a strong UNSCR. Failing that, de Salazar said European experts would be meeting at the end of February or beginning of March to discuss additional sanctions in an effort to define an EU position with a view towards EU-U.S. consultations on the same subject in April. He underscored Spain's desire to work closely with the U.S. on this issue. SOLOMONT