CYPRUS: NO PLAN TO SUBMIT QUESTIONS FOR IRAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L NICOSIA 000052 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR IO/UNP AND EUR/SE E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/27/2020 TAGS: PHUM PREL CY SUBJECT: CYPRUS: NO PLAN TO SUBMIT QUESTIONS FOR IRAN UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW SESSION REF: SECSTATE 7242 Classified By: DCM Jonathan R. Cohen for reasons 1.4(b) and (d) ¶1. (U) On January 28, 2010, Poloff delivered ref points to Nicos Nicolaou, Counselor in the MFA's Political Affairs Division, Department of Multilateral Affairs and International Organizations. ¶2. (C) Nicolaou explained that although Cyprus shares U.S. concerns about the human rights situation in Iran, it does not as a matter of practice submit country-specific questions for Universal Periodic Review sessions, primarily due to staffing limitations; Cyprus does not plan to submit any questions for Iran's upcoming UPR session. Nicolaou noted that Cyprus addresses human rights concerns within the EU framework and highlighted that Cyprus "very recently" delivered an EU collective demarche to Iran on human rights issues. URBANCIC