DEMARCHE RESPONSE: MOBILIZING PRESSURE TO PERSUADE

C O N F I D E N T I A L RIYADH 000154 SIPDIS NEA/FO FOR ELISA CATALANO, ISN/RA FOR RICHARD NEPHEW, NEA/ARP E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2020 TAGS: PARM PREL IR UNSC SA SUBJECT: DEMARCHE RESPONSE: MOBILIZING PRESSURE TO PERSUADE IRAN REF: A. SECSTATE 09124 ¶B. RIYADH 118 ¶C. RIYADH 123 Classified By: Ambassador James B. Smith for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) ¶1. (C) DCM met with Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister for Bilateral Relations, Dr. Khalid Al-Jindan, on February 3 to solicit Saudi support for the U.S. strategy to mobilize pressure to persuade Iran's engagement on its nuclear program per reftel A. ¶2. (C) Al-Jindan noted that he had attended the London Conference on Afghanistan together with FM Prince Saud Al-Faisal, where they had the opportunity to discuss Iran and other topics with Secretary Clinton on the margins of the meeting. As he understood it, the time had come to "tighten the screws," and consider further sanctions. The Saudis were on board, he continued, if the international community as a whole had determined that Iran had failed to live up to its obligations or respond positively to diplomatic gestures. ¶3. (C) It was important for the international community--especially the P5--to be in complete agreement as to the next steps, Jindan stressed. Without a consensus, it would be impossible to achieve our goals. At this point, P5 member Russia was better, but China "was not really cooperating," although recently China did appear to be moving in the right direction. When the Saudis raised the issue of sanctions with Chinese FM Yang (ref B,C) they found him "more cooperative than we had thought." We needed to do more to bring China over to our side, added Al-Jindan. Fortunately, Iran's refusal to respond to repeated international gestures was strengthening our case. ¶4. (C) Al-Jindan stressed the importance of pursuing "everything short of military action" to prevent a nuclear Iran. Military action was a "non-option," that could have no positive results. The problem had to be dealt with in a way that would not throw the region into a state of turmoil and negatively impact the economy. Al-Jindan added that as Iran's neighbor, Saudi Arabia faced a "clear and present danger" of an attack by a nuclear Iran. SMITH